Rebellion in Dreamland
by WrathoftheSun
Summary: Ten years after his death the Demon Emperor is revived using science. Now, he finds the world on the brink of collapse. He has two choices. Let the world destroy itself or do it himself.   Can he conquer the world again? While playing for keeps?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass

Short Summary: Revived by science, Lelouch Vi Britannia rides to war once more. Revived or otherwise, his past still haunts him as he assembles his Legions for war. Can he, for the greater good, fight those he put in control of the world?

A/N: This isn't really just my second fanfiction. However, I would take all reviews, constructive or otherwise, in stride.

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><p>Prologue: Resurrection<p>

" Lelouch Vi Britannia, a man of many titles, has died. Demon King, Zero, Emperor, it is all for naught, for now he lies slain by the disguised Kururugi Suzaku. His ultimate Plan, Zero Requiem, is his hope to save the world from evil. By turning the hatred of the world on himself, he staged his own death. He died in the arms of his beloved sister, Nunnally Vi Britannia, who became the 100th Empress of Britannia roughly a month after his death. As was his intention.

But even the optimistic know that not all plans survive contact with the enemy. Oddly enough, support was still very strong for Lelouch within certain circles of Britannia. In fact, rather than loath him as a Demon King, many of the lower class still held their heads high in his name. Alas, this was only on the Mainland of Britannia. However, unrest and discontent gripped the nation of Britannia. The economy was thrown into a massive spiral the likes of which hadn't been seen since the Great Depression. Of the few remaining formerly Royal Family, only Odysseus came out on the positive end financially. It appears he had a great, well concealed, talent for logistics.

Almost immediately after the Demon King's death, his body was reported missing. Cornelia passed it off as defilers who wanted to vent their anger on the Demon King. She couldn't have been more wrong.

Several legions of the Imperial Army disappeared about five months into Nunnally's reign. Jeremiah Gottwald worked hard to track down these legions, but was only a little successful. To his surprise, most of the troops that had deserted had not been Geassed. Rather, they seemed to be rallying against Nunnally, claiming she went against everything Lelouch had done. Amongst them were several companies of new recruits.

In the years to come, technology would be advanced, but not at the breakneck pace that the Black Rebellions and the Damocles war had spurred. In the Euro Universe, and amongst the commoners of Britannia, this was another knock against Nunnally Vi Britannia. In this civil unrest, a young scientist named Marlowe Harrison would begin to develop a powerful energy manipulation theorem based off of Nina Einstein's original F.L.E.I.A plans. During the next ten years, he would team up with a team of ambitious scientists of a like mind, and create powerful KMFs years ahead of the technology used by Rakshata and Lloyd.

In the Euro Universe, a crack KMF pilot began to grow tired of peace. He was immediately contacted by Marlowe Harrison and Brendon Howell to be their test pilot. He accepted eagerly. The man once known as the Phoenix of Berlin became the first pilot of the newest resistance movement.

The U.F.N continued its strong surge towards world unity outside of Britannia. Led by Xingke and Empress Tianzi, the former Chinese Federation spearheaded the operation to get the remaining nations to join the U.F.N. They were mildly successful, able to get most of the Euro/Asian nations to join with the exceptions of Germany and Russia. Germany housed thousands of deserting Britannian soldiers who remained fanatically loyal to the Demon King, even without the Geass. Russia, well, they housed the newest resistance movement.

Lelouch couldn't have predicted this happening, but it is important anyway. After his death, those with very strong wills, like his elder brother Schniezel, were able to throw off their Geasses. With his death, the Geass lost the Absolute part of Absolute Obedience. While a weak mind, like say Tamaki, would continue to toil under the Geass, someone like Schniezel would be aware of it instantly. With this awareness, he would then be able to throw it off. Something he did almost immediately after Nunnally reappointed him to Prime Minister.

The greatest event to occur during this time of peace, was the kidnapping of Nina Einstein, which occurred near the end of the ninth year. Whilst some, like Lloyd Asplund, wanted an immediate investigation, others, like Japanese Prime Minister Kaname Ohgi, were more worried that she might be rebuilding F.L.E.I.A.

However, that all was dwarfed by the fact that deep in Siberia, the angry violet eyes of the world's most hated Emperor were fluttering back into life."

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( Deep in Siberia)

His name was Typhon. He hated it a lot, but it described him well if you added an o to it. He wore his brown hair long, but kept it tied in a pony tail for his own reasons. His uniform was the jet black with silver of the Black Knights, but without their insignias. In fact, he really didn't like the Black Knights. Just their color scheme. In place of the Black Knight winged sword, was the meteorological symbol for Hurricane. His brown eyes narrowed into a glare at the dark haired scientist who was frantically inputting new data into the machines. Said scientist flinched under his cold gaze.

Typhon was an ex-Knightmare pilot for Britannia, but his real skills were as a foot soldier. He was a barely passable KMF pilot at best, but he could kill a man with his hands easily. He had been the one tasked with recovering the Demon King's body. He had been the one who had been tasked with kidnapping the scientist in front of him, Nina Einstein. The notoriously reclusive scientist had been easy picking for the guy who wished he had joined the SAS rather than KMF corp.

He asked, " Nina, what's the status?"

Nina tittered nervously, " He should awaken within a week. We only have a few more diagnostics to perform."

Odysseus smiled on the monitor from his villa in New Pendragon, " Excellent, I have been waiting for this for ten years."

Typhon gestured at the light brown haired former First Prince, " Frankly, I'm surprised you would be in support of our effort, Uranus."

" No codenames please, Typhon. This is a secure channel broadcast from my Villa. No one is monitoring it. "

Typhon smirked, " Very well then, Odysseus. Is there a mission you have in mind?"

Odysseus laughed, " Unfortunately, that is not my specialty. Alexander is the planner you know. He's the one with all of our intel."

Typhon frowned at the mentioning of his commander, " Stormcrow would like to hold off on any new operations until Subject Zero has awakened. Says that the Subject is better at strategy and planning than he is."

" Hmm, I knew my younger brother was quite the strategist, but for even Stormcrow to admit to being inferior. That's impressive don't you think?"

Typhon nodded, " Yes it is. However, I am genuinely worried about something. What if Subject Zero doesn't cooperate? I mean, we will be asking him to fight against his former comrades, maybe even his sister. We know his feelings on such matters."

Odysseus thought for a moment before answering, " A genuine concern. But I think that once he sees that his plan has not be fulfilled, he will help us. The real issue is this. What if we end up fighting Nunnally?"

This got Nina's attention, " We would be in trouble then."

Typhon pulled a file out and slammed it on the desk. It was labeled, "Project Lazarus: Psychological profile,", which he opened to Lelouch's profile. He pointed, " Clearly labeled is his fierceness in protecting and fighting for his sister. One might even say his affinity with Nunnally is unnatural and beyond the normal duties of a brother. I have a sister too, and I'm not willing to start a rebellion to keep her safe. In fact, I'm pretty sure she would kill me, and would expect me to do the same to her, in that situation."

Odysseus frowned, " I'll admit, Lelouch and Nunnally have an uncommonly strong bond. I only wish I got along half as well with my full sister, Guinevere. I imagine it has to do with my father's exile of him after his mother's 'death.' I suppose we all know about that now?"

A new link beeped in, labeled Stormcrow. Typhon pressed the link, bringing up a Sound Only channel. Stormcrow blurted out, " Is it done yet?"

Odysseus looked at the other side of the monitor, " Stormcrow, we were in the middle of discussing some important issues that may come up with Subject Zero when you burst in."

" No issues, just status report. We'll work those out when the time comes."

Nina sighed, " Like I told Typhon and Odysseus earlier, he should be awaken at some point within a week. We've just got his heart restarted, and blood is pumping at a standard rate. Wait, something's happening."

" What?"

Nina looked slightly panicked, " He's waking now!"

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( Test Room)

Violet eyes fluttered open, blinking rapidly to adjust to the light of the room. He eagerly took deep breaths of the sterile air. He blinked a couple of more times, and slid his legs off the table. He tested his legs. He was unsteady, having to grasp the table to keep from falling out. A voice rang out, one he definitely recognized, " Subject Zero, I request that you remain on the table until proper diagnostics can be run!"

Lelouch answered back, " Nina Einstein, how nice it is to hear from you again. I suppose this isn't the time for pleasantries?"

A different voice answered back, " Your Majesty! We were not expecting you to awaken for another week! "

Lelouch looked down at the operating table with his semi-permanent scowl, " It was not my intention to awaken at all. I specifically ordered Gottwald to not perform any medical procedures on my body. I had originally feared that when I killed my father, I had taken his Code. But I see that was not the case. Tell me, Commander Jameson, why have I been revived?"

In the other room, Typhon flinched at the use of his dropped surname, " Milord, I am not the one best equipped to explain this. It is rather, my superior who is best equipped to handle such matters. However, I can allow Miss Einstein to brief you on the World as a whole."

Lelouch wasn't exactly pleased with that explanation, but didn't let it show, preferring to sit back down on the table until he could get his bearings straight. Nina's voice fluttered over the intercom. She sounded rather nervous. He guessed she never quite got over his Zero persona.

" Your Majesty, Lelouch Vi Britannia, has been reborn on the First of July, 2028. In Siberia Russia."

Lelouch interrupted her, " So I'm guessing this isn't one of my sister's ideas then, if we aren't in Britannia?"

" Y-Yes. You are with a small Sleeper Cell of a resistance movement called the Blizzards. Ironic yes? This is our northernmost base, where we build our KMFs, and our Airships. Not that that's really saying much. I think we have ten pilots right now, everyone else is a scientist."

Lelouch frowned, " Not much of a resistance movement then. I don't even think I could take those odds. Nonetheless, you are not explaining the world's situation to me. I trust you have a good reason?"

" L-Like Commander Typhon said, we aren't exactly privy to the knowledge of the origins of this project. Only Uranus and Stormcrow are."

" Hm, codenames. Someone is going the extra mile to make sure I don't know who they are until I can't get out of their grasp,", Lelouch said with an arrogant smirk. As he had anticipated, certain people in the observation room flinched.

Nina replied, " Well, if you must know the broad terms, then they are simply put as thus; the world is in no better shape than when you died. Poverty is at an all time high due to Britannia's infrastructure collapsing. We are still unsure exactly how this happened. Still, this plunged the world into a depression the likes of which we have never seen before. It is only just now recovering, but tensions are at an all time high. Several resistance Networks have been set up between the Rogue Legions-"

" Rogue Legions? What?"

He heard Nina sigh in the other room, " Legions of the Britannian Army that were still loyal to you. Without the Geass. They all deserted, taking all their arms and equipment, after it was announced Nunnally would take the throne."

" Wow. Has Nunnally be that bad of a ruler that they couldn't track down army units of ten thousand men, complete with KMFs, tanks, and IFVs? Or were these soldiers just that quick?" Lelouch asked through the glass.

Nina answered, " We don't know. It rather surprised me when I heard about it. However, the investigation was headed up by Lord Jeremiah "Orange" Gottwald. I believe he was the most fanatical of your supporters?"

Lelouch smirked inwardly, remembering the Orange KGF pilot, how he was loyal no matter what. A potential recruit. Wait why was he thinking about recruiting if he wanted nothing to do with this? The truth be told, Lelouch had become addicted to the drug that is war. He was able to cling to his goals yes, but that didn't quell his desire to see battle. To direct forces once more. To command. And now that he thought about it, he really wanted revenge against the Black Knights.

With Zero Requiem going on, and planning his own death, revenge hadn't been at the top of his to do list last time. But now, now it was at the very top. Unfortunately, moving against anyone, especially the Black Knights, would attract the attentions of his sister, Nunnally. A confrontation he definitely hoped to put off as long as possible.

The Damocles Battle was a once in a life time sort of deal for Lelouch, who felt a much stronger bond to his sister than most people would for their siblings. It was only after Suzaku had roughed him up a bit and reminded him that Schniezel was the true enemy that he had been able to bring himself to war against her at all. However, there wouldn't be a Suzaku performing his duties as Knight of Zero to get him back in gear this time. In fact, that same Kururugi Suzaku would likely be fighting against him as Zero. No doubt, the odds were definitely stacked against the revived Lelouch.

He spoke up for the first time in about ten minutes, " Nina, would you bring me a map? And detailed force composition charts of our troops, as well as the latest Black Knight troop locations? I know you can get those for me, you used to be an elite hacker."

" O-O-Of course, Your Highness."

Lelouch smirked. Now, THIS was being back in command. The papers he requested were passed to him by a nurse. Unsurprisingly, the majority of Black Knight forces were concentrated in Japan, roughly seventy percent. Ten percent were concentrated in China, and the rest were scattered throughout the world. Hell, there was even a force of five hundred stationed in New Pendragon.

He was sketching out advancement plans when he was hailed by Commander Jameson, " Your Majesty, Stormcrow has arrived and will see you now."

Lelouch smirked and picked up the notes he had been making. He already had a plan to invade China. The Demon King had returned. He didn't even notice that his Geass wasn't active.

90988998345

( New Pendragon)

Ever since Lelouch had died, the Geasses had weakened to the extent that someone of high mental fortitude could actually break it. Such was the case with Schniezel, and oddly, with Odysseus Eu Britainnia as well. Odysseus had been lucky to survive his younger brother's bombing of the original Pendragon, having been at his former villa due to Lelouch's orders. He had been even luckier when he was able to recover his fortune with relative ease, even during a depression. If Odysseus had one talent, he was a money master.

Despite their looks of being a dysfunctional, spoilt family, the Royal Family of Britannia all had their unique traits. Schniezel was a subtle and masterful tactician. So was Lelouch. Both had charisma. Carline used to be a cunning governess, despite being Nunnally's age at the time. Guinevere used to be a socialite. Castor and Pollux had been talented at making everyone else's life miserable. Cornelia was still a hell hound on the battlefield. Euphemia had been talented at drawing the best out of even the worst kinds.

However, after his nearest brother had FLEAIAED the hell out of the original Pendragon, the originally thirty nine strong family was reduced to five or six in total. With Lelouch's death, that number fell again. But now it was back.

Odysseus actually had two talents. One was his ability with money. The other was the ability to make everyone else think he was laid back slob. Both worked excellently with his underground dealings with various Rogue Legions. No one would ever suspect Odysseus to be funding a rebellion would they?

That's when he received the excellent news that his younger brother, Lelouch, had returned to the land of the living. Oddly, the Ex-Emperor was already planning world conquest all over again. But that's not at all unlike Lelouch, so Odysseus sort of expected it. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to celebrate. He was busy dealing with the Emperor's full sister, Nunnally.

Nunnally was sweet woman, always had been. And she did possess some of her brother's intellect and talent for manipulation. But that didn't necessarily make her the best candidate to rule an Empire that spanned almost a third of the Earth's surface did it? After all, it took a certain type of bravado to be Lelouch Vi Britannia. So much like his father, Charles Zi Britannia, that he killed the man. Again, just like his father who killed his own father. Funny how both men hated each other with such a passion. Had Lelouch not been exiled, he likely would have been named Crown Prince based off of merit alone.

The Former First Prince cut his powder blue eyes at the Empress seated across from him. She smiled sweetly at him. He had to stifle back a sniff of disdain. Like so many of the other Royal Family members, Nunnally hadn't really changed much over the last twenty years. She asked, " Odysseus, what is the situation in Oregon?"

Odysseus reported back, " Nothing has changed, Empress. There is still some general unrest due to the depression and escalating prices. Otherwise, nothing has changed."

He felt the glare of the masked knight, Zero on his back. Zero asked, " I have reason to believe you are not telling the truth. So, I repeat the question. What is the situation in Oregon, Odysseus?"

Odysseus smiled at Zero, " As I said earlier, nothing has changed. There has been a slight increase in unrest, but that is all."

Like anyone else who had been affected by the Geass, he retained little information of what actually happened while under its effect, but he had met Zero before being Geassed, and this clearly wasn't the Zero he had originally met. The voice distorter could only compensate for the difference in voices to a certain point. But, being a politician at heart, he never called Zero on it. Like a few others outside of the Black Knights, after some studying of the events, he had come to the conclusion that the original Zero had been Lelouch. As for this Zero, he sounded like a Knight he had only met once before.

Shortly thereafter, Nunnally left Odysseus. He pressed his hand to his ear, and radioed, " Did you all capture that on feed?"

The Russian voice of Alexander Stormcrow answered, "Yes, we have the recording. We are playing it back to Subject Zero now. Standby for confirmation."

A few moments later, " Subject Zero diagnostic complete. He recognizes both voices. One as Nunnally. The other, he claims is Kururugi Suzaku. Given records, he is correct, and has related the story of Zero Requiem to us. Subject Zero is a success. Lelouch Vi Britannia walks again."

Odysseus smiled, " All hail Lelouch."

" All hail Lelouch."

Jeremiah Gottwald walked into the room, with some guards behind him. The guards wore a small wolf's head insignia. Gottwald pressed his fist to his chest, and declared, " Jeremiah Gottwald, returned from contacting the Lost Wolves Rogue Legion. I request to speak to His Majesty if possible?"

" Very well, Lord Orange."

Lelouch's voice came through Odysseus' ear speaker, " Is that you, Gottwald?"

" Yes, Your Majesty! I await your command!"

Lelouch sounded slightly amused, " Brother Odysseus, tell me, is Jeremiah kneeling right now?"

Odysseus looked at the kneeling Margrave, " Yes, he is."

Lelouch commanded, " Stand, Jeremiah. I'm currently not the Emperor. However, I would like a status report."

" I have just finished with the Lost Wolves, Milord. They will bring their forces to your banner at your beckoning! Orders?"

Odysseus smiled as his brother gave the next order, " Then you will find me some Knightmare pilots. The Blizzards are hopelessly lacking in manpower outside of their science department."

" Then I shall contact the Phoenix Legion next! The fabled Phoenix of Berlin is said to be with them, though why a European KMF pilot would join a rogue Britannian Legion is beyond me. However, do not expect instant results, my prince. Even Stormcrow's underground doesn't know where he is at."

The Russian voice of Alexander Stormcrow filtered in, " Do not assume that just yet, my good man. The data will be forwarded to you shortly. Now, if you would excuse us, me and the Emperor have some business to attend to."

With that, the link clicked off. Odysseus pulled the small bug out of his ear, muttering, " They always put these things in too far. Ah well, Suzaku is extremely observant, even if his mannerisms are hardly like Lelouch's when he was Zero."

Gottwald held a hand to his bionic eye/Geass canceller, " I agree. The Emperor chose him to be his executioner. Yet, Suzaku doesn't carry himself with the same confidence nor does he have the same charisma as His Majesty had."

The head of the Lost Wolves added, " Maybe it has something to do with him being a fanatical hypocrite?"

Odysseus sat down in a chair, " The Rogue Leader has a good point. During the Rebellions, Kururugi Suzaku played extraordinarily easily into both the plans of my father and Schniezel. Even I, laid back and lazy Odysseus Eu Britannia, thought his actions and motivations to be rather hypocritical of themselves. If you want peace, why join the military? If you want to free your homeland, then why not join the Black Knights? The man was an oddball to say the least, but both my father and brother read him extremely well. Though I honestly believe he would have been a better man if Euphemia hadn't have died."

Jeremiah nodded, " Though I believe that he and Empress Nunnally have something going there. Is it me, or did the Empress seem a tad larger around the stomach than normal?"

Odysseus frowned as he thought. His eyes widened, " Why yes she did! Are you saying that she's…?"

" Anyone who's ever known Nunnally has always known her to be an effete, slender as a rail, blown over by the wind type of girl in body structure. And she eats very, very little. There is only one explanation for it. She is indeed, pregnant."

Odysseus frowned, " Then that will pose even greater problems for Lelouch then. Of course, there is certainly no doubt to who the child's father is either. Nunnally goes nowhere without Zero. Nowhere, and it appears that now extends to include bedroom as well. There's been no announcement though."

" Probably to prevent even more unrest. Suzaku or not, Zero is famous for what Lelouch did behind the mask. The only kill Suzaku has as Zero is Lelouch himself, and that really doesn't count anymore now does it? Imagine the outrage it would cause if the Empress were to announce she was having the child of the King of Terrorists."

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( Japan)

Of all the countries that stood to gain from Lelouch's death, only Japan actually lost anything. Well, in a certain sense at any rate. It had its independence again, and to most of the Japanese, that's all that mattered. However, to those who preferred a more practical way of thinking, it was now far worse. Given the back and forth affair that had been the Black Rebellions, followed by the Demon King's Takeover, and that followed by the Damocles Incident, meant that everything important in Japan was destroyed. Infrastructure, economy, military, etc. However, that didn't stop the people from rallying again.

Prime Minister Kaname Ohgi was a masterful administrator. He guided Japan out of the worldwide depression into economic status that hadn't been seen since before Britannia had first taken it over. However, that was all he was good as, besides being the natural crowd pleaser that all politicians were. It was as though he had completely forgotten that he had once been a revolutionary himself.

Diplomatic relations with the Chinese Federation and Britannia were at an all-time high, but relations with other U.F.N nations were approaching all time lows. In fact, Ohgi didn't know why himself. Well, the main reasons involved the Rogue Legions of Britannia. Fanatically loyal legions that had deserted after Lelouch's death, these legions now comprised large portions of some small, but influential, countries' militaries and governments. Ten legions of ten thousand men, spread in two nations. Germany and Russia contained all ten of the Rogue Legions.

To Prime Minister Ohgi, Germany was just suffering under delusions of its former grandeur. It was just simply trying to strike up a conflict in an otherwise peaceful world. To an extent, he was right. But Germany was being controlled by a KMF pilot whose title would make collective Knights of Three, Four, Seven, and Nine all cringe, if they were all still alive. The Phoenix of Berlin. Whilst lacking in common sense, the pilot was enough to single handedly hold EU lines against four Knights of Round. Suffice to say, he was more than just an ordinary man in a KMF. The Phoenix was a warrior in heart, and was bored of peace. But, he was also part of the largest Rogue Legion, the Phoenixes, named after himself once he joined. Ohgi didn't know it, but his wife did. Sooner or later, this Rogue Legion was going to be a true problem.

Despite having settled down with two kids, Villeta was still vigilant. She was one of the few people in the world who absolutely _refused_ to believe that Lelouch had died that day ten years ago. She ever kept an eye out for any sign of what she viewed as his impending return. Though her husband only sighed and put his hand to his face when she voiced it, it was her opinion that these Rogue Legions were housing Lelouch. She was right.

Japan itself, hadn't changed that much. If Lelouch chose to risk going there under cover, he would have sworn he was back at Ashford Academy before his rebellions. Minus the extreme racism of course. Now, Japan had the strongest economy in the world. If the Black Knights counted as Japan's personal military, they had the strongest military in the world. They had the best technology, Blizzard Group aside, in the world. If he wanted to take the world again, Lelouch would find his hardest material battle with Japan, not Britannia.

( Black Knight Base)

" So who do we have here?"

An officer glances down at his clipboard and back at the orange haired man tied up in the chair, " Seems his name is Andrew Fenette. Do we have confirmed relations?"

A second officer answered, " Yes, comes from a minor noble family. Appears that the family is in disgrace right now. Looks like his cousin committed suicide ten years ago, and the family still hasn't quite recovered. For those minuses, his KMF simulation scores are off the charts."

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( Typhon)

" Typhon."

The clean cut Spec Ops commander pressed his hand to the small bug in his ear, " Yes, Stormcrow?"

" I have received word that a possible defector has been detained in a large Black Knight Base in Japan. I want you to extract him whilst I speak with Subject Zero. "

Typhon did a mini salute, " Yes milord! May I ask his name?"

" His name is Andrew Fenette. Age 26. Roughly five foot nine inches tall. Has long, orange sherbet colored hair. Lime green eyes. Trust me, you'll know him when you see him. Strangely effeminate looking as well, so don't let that cheat you. He contacted me not too long ago about joining us, but it appears he has been captured. I want you to get him out."

" Yes Milord!"

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><p>ANs: FYI, I'm not like other Fanfic authors on this site. I don't make an effort to remain in character with everyone. I am not afraid of using OCs in major roles. I do this for more flexibility in the story, in addition to trying to avoid making a clone story. In fact, OCs will be playing a large part on BOTH sides.

Legions: For future reference, a Legion is Ten Thousand men strong unless otherwise noted. This is in accordance to the Space Marine codex, which states that a Chapter cannot be more than ten thousand men strong. I use it because ten thousand is a nice round number. However, some legions will be far more powerful or far less powerful. The Blizzards are an example of the latter.

Random things that probably defy canon:

Geass deactivating: By definition, Lelouch's Geass is Absolute obedience, once cast, can never be removed. Well, with his death, I believe that it would have lost some of its potency. Someone who became aware that they were being controlled would be able to throw it off ( since the Geass damages the mind, knowing what was happening would be the first step to getting rid of it.) This, in fact, might be the only way there would be a R3. Someone, like Schniezel's, Geass failing. I could, actually see that happening. Because everyone knows Schniezel was the guy who wanted to be emperor and he was just fucking with Lelouch on the Damocles with Nunnally *Hint*.

Odysseus surviving: To my knowledge, he probably died in Pendragon like the other parts of the royal family, and it isn't worth my time to look it up on the Wiki. However, I am familiar with how he acts in the series. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that it might be a façade. After all, each royal family member had their own talents (useful or not is a different story).


	2. Chapter 2 Ghosts of the Past

Chapter 1 Ghosts of the Past

A/N: Real Reviews! So much better than writing in the Harry Potter fandom where 9/10 reviews is " Update NOW" Spinzaku is now my favorite name for Suzaku.

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><p>" Hotel six this is Bravo three, do you copy?"<p>

" This is Hotel Six, we copy. Insertion complete. Moving in."

" Copy that, Hotel. Sending Coordinates now."

Typhon switched off his night vision goggles as his small Spec Ops squad approached the Kaminejima Black Knight Base. The layout of the base was peculiar, supposedly designed around the ruins not far outside of the base itself. It was built over the ruins of the Britannian Base that Lelouch Vi Britannia resurrected his rebellion in.

Typhon motioned to his second, " You take the sentry on the left. I take the two on the right."

He raised his sniper rifle, and in two quick bursts, brought down the two sentries. His second did the same, and lowered his weapon. " Now, move into the base. Get to secure location."

They dashed in the shadows towards the detention cells. Once in a secure position, Typhon opened his communications link. The Russian accented voice of Alexander Stormcrow filtered in.

" Commander Ray Typhon Jameson, your task is to extract Andrew Fenette. He is a prisoner being held in Detention Cell E5. If you are quick, you will be able to get in and out with minimal resistance. Stormcrow out."

Typhon motioned for his second to follow him into the Detention Hall. Most of the MPs were sleeping, and only the shit details were patrolling. Except at Hall E. Secundus muttered, " Commander, they're doing something in Hall E. Too many guards for us to take out by ourselves. Should we call the rest of the squad?"

" No, we can take them. We simply have to time it right. The door is coming right about…..here. Get flashbang ready. I'll toss smoke after flash."

" Sir!"

Typhon inched the door slightly open, whispering, " Now."

Secundus tossed the flashbang into the room, and a few clinks later, it burst into light. The men inside yelped. Typhon slung the door open, and opened fire. He cut down the commander, and ordered, " Secundus! Take care of the other two. I'll grab the package."

He quickly tied a blindfold around the emerald eyes of the target. He picked the effete man up, commenting, " Looks slightly feminine doesn't quite cut it. If his records didn't list him as a male, I would swear he was a girl."

Typhon pressed his hand to his ear, " Hotel Six to Bravo, requesting extraction."

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* * *

><p>( In Siberia)<p>

" You are Alexander Stormcrow?"

Frankly, Lelouch hid his surprise at the somewhat intimidating man in front of him. He wore his greasy, scraggly black hair long, but kept strands of it in a ponytail. His beard was down to his chest. He had a similarly impressive mustache. Scars dotted his face. His eyes were black, no irises. He had a long, deep scar running down the side of his neck from his left ear, and it looped around like someone had tried to cut a Rat's Smile on him. His clothing was even shadier, with a deep black trench coat and a stripped blue and white shirt. His pants were tight, but had various slashes all over them. He screamed Underworld.

Though the links negated it somewhat, the man spoke with a rather thick Russian accent, " Yes, I am Alexander Stormcrow. Is this appearance problematic for you?"

Lelouch stared at the man passively, " Not at all. However,", Lelouch's left eye flashed red, " I would like for you to tell me exactly why you have revived me."

Alexander smiled, before replying, " Not today, Geass boy. You will have your explanations momentarily, but I must first deal with a matter involving my adopted daughter. You must forgive me."

Lelouch raised a slightly curious eyebrow, _Adopted daughter? I've not seen a single woman in this entire base, save for Nina. No way. If he is, then I could kind of understand her xenophobia. It's like he deliberately makes every attempt to be as intimidating as possible. He pulls it off gloriously, I might say. Hell, he might prove to be a foe worthy of my time._

As Lelouch was having thoughts about the man responsible for his revival, a signal went off in the base. A very eccentric looking man walked up and pressed it. He leaned into the monitor, " This is Bravo, clear for landing."

Typhon's voice went over the intercom, " Very well, Bravo. Hotel out."

Lelouch asked, " What was that?"

The man cocked his head sideways, " Oh, it was just our little boy, Typhon, returning from his little mission. I do hope he liked his new guns. Took a lot of work on that Galil to get it up to par. Weapon is older than me, you, and Typhon put together. They used it in the Vietnam conflict!"

" So who are you?"

The man pulled his stark white hair out from under his hat, " Name's Marlowe Harrison. I'm the lovely man who designed most of the procedures that went into your revival! Not to mention our four KMF's here."

_I thought there were ten. Guess that's a projected number._ " Do you have pilots for them yet?"

Marlowe gestured at the incoming plane, " Well, we have at least one pilot. He's coming in on that. However, we are a tad lacking in the manpower department. Most of us here are scientists, not devicers."

" Query, do all scientists use Lloyd Asplund's terminology?"

Marlowe laughed, " Nope, Brenden acts like Rakshata."

" Great. Strange pipe? Calls his KMFs his children?"

Marlowe smirked at the Demon Emperor, " In a nutshell, Geass boy."

" Why is everyone calling me that?"

His musings were cut off by Alexander returning, " Emperor Lelouch, it has come to my attention that you are intrigued by our reasoning to revive you. Do you still wish to know?"

Lelouch nodded stoically. Alexander recanted, " The world is on the brink of collapse. Despite its appearances of being whole and unified, storm clouds gather over the horizon. Age old fault lines threaten to rupture. Cracks in the shell threaten to shatter into thousands of shards. The world is becoming a stagnant hellscape that threatens to overcome reasoning."

Lelouch countered, " I've heard that Japan and China have advanced remarkably."

Stormcrow returned fire, " But look at the rest of the world. There exists a saying, ' Judge a man not on how he treats his equals, but on how he treats those lower than he.' Japan and China have advanced remarkably. The Black Knights are the largest military in the world. But look at Britannia. Stagnating under the self-destruction of its own economy. An economy that was destroyed by your sister I might add. Britannia helped rebuild Japan and China, but neither has extended a hand to aid Britannia's failings now have they? Oh, and China hasn't advanced very much. If anything, they've regressed considerably."

" One can hardly blame them. Both nations, Japan especially, suffered immensely by the hands of Britannia."

Stormcrow smiled ever so slightly, " I see this is truly one to be reckoned with. Anyway, our motivations are the same as yours were so many years ago. Rebuild the world in an image that we see fit. Is that not the idea behind all conquerors?"

" A rhetorical question?"

" Naturally,", Stormcrow answered with his devious looking smile that reminded Lelouch of his own. A small alarm went off, and Typhon's voice went over the intercom, " Stormcrow, this is Typhon. We have delivered the package. Requesting audience."

" Granted,", Alexander gestured to Lelouch, " Come, let us go meet our newest Knight Pilot."

Lelouch followed the Russian down to the landing pad just below the command center of the base. Alexander explained," Now, Lelouch, I want you to know this. You have a history with the Fenette family do you not?"

Internally wincing at the mentioning of Shirley's family, he answered, " Yes. I happened to have been very good friends with one." _Not to mention directly responsible for her father's death, and in some ways, her death._

Alexander made a hand motion, " Well, I suppose you wouldn't be adverse to meeting another then,", he opened the door to the holding room, " May I introduce Andrew Fenette?"

His first, despite hearing Alexander say the person's name, was, _Shirley? Impossible! Wait, something's different. This one….he is clearly a military man. Does he know he looks a lot like Shirley?_

The man introduced as Andrew Fenette stood up, and saluted Lelouch. Lelouch frowned at the obvious familial resemblance between Andrew and Shirley. Andrew wore his orange hair the _exact_ same length that Shirley had worn hers, and his emerald eyes were the same exact shade. He was slightly taller, but that didn't change the fact that he looked very much like the woman who was his cousin.

Andrew muttered, " I see you are making the same mistake several others have already made. I've always been told I resembled my cousin."

Typhon walked up with a report in his hand, " Slightly effeminate doesn't come close to him. He would have had me convinced if I didn't already know from bio reports that he was a male. However, his KMF simulation scores are the highest we've ever seen. Even higher than Kururugi's back in the day."

Andrew sneered, " I modeled my fighting style after the former Knight of Seven and Zero's. If anything, I've always wanted to serve the Emperor in the same capacity. So,", the orange haired man knelt before Lelouch, " I, Andrew Cassius Fenette pledge honor and fealty to Lelouch Vi Britannia, 99th Emperor of Holy Britannia and Lord of this World."

Lelouch let his arrogant smile dot his face, " And I accept your pledge, Andrew Fenette. However, I cannot name you a Knight in capacity for several reasons. One: I do not know your skills in real life. My men here tell me that you have obscene simulator scores. Despite having had the pleasure of working with two aces in the past who had obscene scores, I still cannot take that as an indication of true skill. Two: I have a history with your family, and for now, I would like to distance myself as much as possible from whatever situation may arise from it. You are dismissed."

Andrew nodded, and walked off with Typhon to the medical bay. Lelouch spoke with disdain after Andrew had left, " He obviously doesn't realize the discomfort he has inflicted on myself."

Stormcrow jeered, " Fighting the ghosts of the past eh, Lelouch?"

" More than just fighting. More like threatening to destroy me. They always have. I'm telling you this because by having me as your leader, it is something you will have to deal with. During Zero Requiem, this role was fulfilled by Suzaku. Now, this role will have to be fulfilled by you."

Stormcrow smirked, " A role I shall perform admirably in. Now, we have much to discuss, you and I."

+++++++)_++)+)+++++++(+(+*+)+)

* * *

><p>( Japan)<p>

" Ohgi, this is bad man."

The Prime minister looked at Tamaki, " Yeah it is. A squad of Rogue Legion men broke into our most secure base and stole a high profile prisoner. Nunally's going to kill me when she finds out that we let him get away."

The fiery hothead blustered, " Ohgi man, you can't possibly be afraid of the Demon's sister now are you? Or has Viletta rubbed off on you that much?"

" I have learned many things from my wife and Kallen. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I believe that if the time were right, that Nunnally would be just as fierce an opponent as Lelouch Vi Britannia himself."

Tamaki gaped. That was the first time any Black Knight member, save Kallen and Toudoh, had actually used Lelouch's name. Ten years, and they all still called him the Demon. Tamaki saved his face, " Well, got to give the girl credit. She did stand up to her bro back during the Damocles incident."

" We were there, Tamaki. I am still in awe at how we lost that, and still managed to come out on top. Example of, " Lose the Battle, Win the War,", isn't it?"

Tamaki laughed, " Well, I can dare say that Lelouch isn't around to see the country he tossed around like a baby's toy become the most powerful in the world! Isn't that right, Ohgi?"

" Maybe a little exaggerated, but we really do have the best economy, best military, best technology don't we?"

Tamaki patted his old Black Knight commander on the shoulder, " And it's all because of you, Ohgi man! Best Prime Minister Japan ever had right here!"

" Well, we do happen to have some really good scientists here thanks to Rakshata. And some excellent Knightmare pilots thanks to Zero shifting some pilots to us. And the Black Knights are the largest army in the world at this time. I guess you are right, we are the most powerful nation in the world right now."

A voice came from behind them, " Unfortunately for you, you do not have the power to use that newfound power now do you?"

Tamaki and Ohgi looked upon the newcomer. They had seen him before, a frequenter of Rivalz Cardemonde's now prestigious bar in the middle of Tokyo. After the wars, parades of people had migrated to Japan from various regions of the world. It was one of the reasons that Japan was now the most successful country. This man was one of them. A former German KMF pilot and Commander by the name of Gottfried Hansen.

Tamaki asked, " Hey, hey, what are you doing here?"

Hansen answered, " Fulfilling my duty as Adjudicator of the Black Knights. After all, it is these types of investigations you hired me for isn't it?"

Hansen had a bit of reputation as being a hard ass and quite determined about his duty. As such, only the highest Black Knight Members, such as Xingke and Toudoh, had the sheer will to block him. Despite their successes, Tamaki and Ohgi didn't have such a will. They let him through. He explained his reasoning, " Despite your better reasoning, you and yours still recognize Zero as your leader do you not?"

Tamaki answered, " Of course man! He rid us of that roach Lelouch!"

Hansen smiled as he looked over some field reports, " I see you have a very short memory if you cannot recall the fact that Lelouch WAS Zero up until you removed him. I suppose you will be even more surprised to learn that I know who THIS Zero really is."

Ohgi looked really nervous. This was bad. Hansen hadn't even been in Japan during the Black Rebellions, and here he knew things that very few of the most privileged Black Knight Operatives knew. Hansen laughed at him, "It is my job to ascertain the truth in all matters. So don't be blaming me for trying to remove the Black from the Black Rebellions. Thanks to censorship and classification, the records of even the most famous battles seem to be almost non-existent. When you're in as far as I am, you uncover some collateral things as well. You wouldn't be wanting that to go to the wrong people, me thinks."

What those two didn't know, was that the information Hansen possessed was ALREADY in the wrong hands of a man named Alexander Stormcrow Petrenko. In fact, Hansen got the info from Stormcrow, who was in possession of Diethard Reid's fail safes in the event the Black Knights turned on him. Said fail safes included detailed manuscripts of every Black Rebellion battle, every strategic maneuver, every person Zero met, down to whether or not C.C might actually have his child ( she didn't). Included, naturally, was who the REAL Zero was.

See, Hansen wasn't his real name. His real name was Wilhelm Amadeus Temkhe. The Phoenix of Berlin. The only man who could truly claimed to have faced the entire Knight of Rounds at some point, and survived all of them. Granted, he had never fought ALL of them at once, but he had seen at least two, upwards of four at once. They called him crazy for a reason, but he was the only reason that Germany was Germany, and not Area whatever. Or former Area whatever nowadays.

They called him the Phoenix, because no matter how suicidal the mission was, no matter how impossible the objective, no matter how daunting the enemy, no matter how damaged his frame was, he always came back. His skill only improved after each fight, and even he admitted that he was a lucky son of a bitch that his first enemy in a KMF had been former Knight of One Bismarck. How he lived through that encounter was beyond even Schniezel to understand, but he was eternally grateful that he had lived to fight his enemy another day. A warrior like himself only lusted for war. Which was specifically the reason why he had accepted all of those Rogue Legions in Germany.

The Rogue Legions were supposedly a dying breed, but for a dying breed, they sure than hell were thriving. The Phoenix Legion alone had nearly double as many men as the Imperial army that had fought the Damocles. That army had been roughly forty thousand strong. The average legion was only ten thousand. The Phoenix Legion had just shy of eighty thousand. Contrary to Tamaki's boasts, the Black Knights did sport the largest army in the world, but clearly not the most powerful. Not if the indications coming from Blizzard HQ were true.

Wilhelm smiled as he poked around at the ruined command room. If Lelouch Vi Britannia walks the earth again, then the legend of Zero shall be replaced with the Lay of Lelouch. For a former EU pilot, there was no greater irony than to be serving the Former Emperor of Britannia, but he would do so. He would do so if only to taste the drug of war once more. He panted as he climbed out of the ruined room. Sometimes he wished he had taken conditioning a little more seriously, but hey, if frail man like Lelouch could rule the world, then he could pilot a KMF.

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* * *

><p>( Siberia)<p>

" So Nina is your adopted daughter?"

Stormcrow ran a finger through his beard, " Yep. Didn't do much for her though. I know her whole family in fact. Lived next door to her for years in Tokyo while I was dealing with the Yakuza. You might even say that me, my father, and her parents were good friends. But that all changed one day."

Lelouch frowned, " Well, I guess I have a good idea of why she is so xenophobic then. You have something to do with it?"

" Not particularly. My father had a VERY big hand in it though. More than just a hand I might say. I've always felt I owed it to her and her family to make it up for what he did. So I actually adopted her and her two sisters. But she ran off as soon as she could for Ashford, and can you really blame her?"

Lelouch passively answered as he quickly fit in all the details, " Not really. What happened to the other two?"

" Well, Natalie became a KMF pilot. She died in the Damocles battle. She was the last KMF protecting the Avalon when Xingke took it. And I don't know about Ophelia. She kind of disappeared. The only one I've been able to keep track of is Nina. Hell, the only reason I've been able to keep track of her is because she's become rather infamous after the FLEIA incident."

Lelouch sipped on the vodka that Stormcrow provided, " So, now that we have your history, care to explain where I'm going to get men to fight with?"

Stormcrow tossed a folder at him. Pointing at it, he explained, " That contains the most recent census of all the Rogue Legions we've contacted. The largest and newest to join us is the Phoenixes. They are nearly double the fighting strength of the entire army used by you in the Damocles War. Nearly Eighty thousand strong."

Lelouch smiled, " Now there's some numbers I can work with. What about our enemy?"

" The Black Knights are almost three million strong in Japan alone now. They have the strongest army in the world after Nunnally instituted a disarming in Britannia. Britannia still fields a respectable army, and both could draft more if necessary."

Lelouch frowned as he began running scenarios in his mind, " Just like the Black Rebellions all over again I guess. So, these experimental KMFs you got here. What are they?"

" We only have two with pilots right now. One is the Fenrir, which Andrew said he will pilot. The other is the Phoenix, which is piloted by Wilhelm Temkhe. Hopefully, we will be receiving some new pilots."

Lelouch tossed a black king on the table, " I'm no Ace, but I know my way around a KMF as well as anyone. You probably remember the Shinkiro and Gawain. Any frame you got here that might fit that?"

Alexander pulled two folders, " One of these is the Gabriel, which is still in development. It's being designed to be the perfect KMF. The other, is Ghost Prototype."

Lelouch pulled the file on Ghost Prototype. The frame was based off of a combination of the Tristan and the Lancelot. But it had a huge variety of weapons and special abilities. Not to mention Blaze Luminous shielding that would make the Ikaruga look unshielded. However, this compensated on its significant lack of armor. Lose the shield, and you were fucked if you couldn't weave out of it. But Lelouch took a liking to the KMF, and selected it.

Alexander took the folders back, " Good choice. The manual for the Ghost Prototype is being placed in your room as we speak. By the way, our techies are working on a Giga Fortress for Jeremiah. Tell him about it the next time you two speak."

"Very well. I will also work on our theatrical entrance back to the world's theater. I think that invading China might be in order. By the way, you mentioned a quirk with Andrew's medical file. What was it?"

Stormcrow waived his hand, " Seems that Andrew has a small time case of Multiple Personality Disorder. Our scans detected two presences within his mind, meaning he has double the brain activity of normal people. But it isn't really a problem, despite the fact that one of his personas is decisively female."

Lelouch frowned. He thought it might, in fact, be something bigger. He remembered that Shirley had told him when she was dying, she would always love him, no matter how many times she was reincarnated. _Could it be a coincidence that Andrew, her closest living relative ( her mum had killed herself a few years back as he had learned), had multiple personality disorder, one of which acted JUST like Shirley, and he kept his hair the exact same style and length? Not to mention that he was extremely picky about it, just like Shirley had been?_ _Plus, he is way too loyal. It was _ _too much of a coincidence, considering that Shirley had never mentioned any other family members. And Shirley couldn't keep a secret to save her life, literally. _

It was definitely something to ponder on. While he couldn't boast that he knew everything about his former schoolmates back when he was in school, he certainly knew enough about them to make inferences on them.

Alexander noticed how tense he was, and commented, " You need to loosen up, Emperor. A man is not at his best when he is tense. Perhaps you need to get laid?"

Lelouch gave his normal smile, " You realize the only woman on this base is Nina correct?"

" There's a problem with that?"

" Well, let's see here. I guess Xenophobic, sometimes psychopathic, hates me with the fury of the sun, and is probably lesbian, yeah there might be a bit of a problem."

Stormcrow laughed, " You're Lelouch Lamperouge, the man who once held the entire female population of Ashford Academy in the palm of his hand. I think you could work her. If you tried."

" Then you've clearly never seen me with a woman. It's like kryptonite, dead serious."

Stormcrow chuckled darkly, " Have it your way, Duke of Love. But I have heard some strange things about you in the past. There was a picture of you in a ball gown in your file."

" I'm going to kill Milly one of these days."

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* * *

><p>( Somewhere in Britannia)<p>

" Your Highness, I bring news."

Schniezel turned to face his aide, Kanon Maldini, " You may relay it to me."

The pink haired aide sat the report on the desk of the Britannian Prime Minister, and began his oral report.

" It appears that activity amongst the Rogue Legions has increased over the last week or two. It seems that something has spurred their actions. It would be prudent to assume they would begin active military operations within a month of today. As for why, I can only begin to guess. Even our contact has been suspiciously quiet as of late. All that was mentioned in the last report was something called Project Lazarus."

Schniezel let the slightest hint of a frown dot his face, " That is disconcerting. I fully expected our spy to be doing better than this. We have to assume the absolute worst. That the Rogue Legions have finally found a way to bring my dear dead brother back to life."

" Milord, how would they have done this? There is no science that can do this, and we've already ascertained that Lelouch did not have the code of your father."

Schniezel waived a careless hand, " I guess I get to reveal to you a very strange experiment that my sister, Cornelia, commissioned eleven years ago. When Euphie died. It was called Project Rebirth. I heard the project was rather successful, but for some reason, they hid the results of the experiment from Cornelia. Let me ask you, do you know who was on the staff of Project Rebirth?"

" No, your highness."

Schniezel gave an arrogant smirk, " Marlowe Harrison. Based off of all reports, he and Brenden Howell are the top scientists of a Rogue Legions based in Siberia named the Blizzard Group. However, as much as I would love to go introduce my brother back to my mental fist, I am having enough trouble with the Damocles II. Nunnally is strangely observant of me isn't she?"

" That she is, Your Highness. After the Damocles One, can you really blame her?"

Schniezel chuckled softly, " Not really. Observant of me or not, she is still pregnant with that cur Kururugi's child. Yes, I know full well who Zero was, and is now. The King of Terrorists? More like Knight of the Demon. My brother will always present a much bigger challenge than the combined might of Britannia and Japan. Alas, he must always choose the hard way."

Kanon was very used to listening to his prince speak of Lelouch, so he simply answered, " He must always. Your Highness, I believe we should start planning in the event that Lelouch should begin to make his moves. Experience in the background, I believe he probably already has plans to invade China or Japan."

Schniezel smiled in his concealed way, " Ever the present mind, Kanon? I see we are in accord. But I am more inclined to believe that my dear brother will strike China first. For all of his Justice talk, he always struck the weakest links first."

Kanon pulled the latest reports from China, " Looks like Xingke is losing control of the place, your highness. He can't quite keep Tianzi in power."

Schniezel further explained, " And China has a plethora of resources that my brother would be sure to use. In this chess match, China is nothing more than a pawn to be sacrificed. As for Britannia, they are our bishops. Japan is our queen. But we are the kings."

Schniezel smirked, thinking, _Our next joust shall be with the same stakes as last time Lelouch. However, this shall be a true battle between kings of this world. Heroes get remembered, Legends never die. Oh, that reminds me._

Schniezel pulled some papers out of his desk, " Kanon, I need you to take a look at these papers."

His aide promptly did so, and dropped the sheaf. Schniezel smirked, expecting the reaction, " Sorry, Kanon, but I cannot allow failure to go unpunished. You should have noticed that my brother was screwing with me. You are dismissed."

The aide took it in stride, but Schniezel could tell he was rather angry with his sudden removal. Kanon asked, " So who is replacing me?"

Schniezel motioned at the dark haired woman in the shadows, " Meet Ophelia Petrenko. No offense, Kanon, but I need someone already familiar with our other enemies in this fight. Ophelia's father is the head of the Blizzard Group."

She bowed, " Step father, actually, your highness. He adopted my two sisters and I after his father killed our parents in a drunken rage."

Kanon narrowed his eyes in the background. Schniezel continued, " Your oldest sister, Natalie, died in the Damocles conflict. She died protecting Lelouch."

" Yes. And for that, I shall hate him."

Schniezel fingered a white king, " And your next sister, Nina, developed the FLEIA warhead that caused the whole accident."

" And I hate her as well. She had no business to develop the weapon that slaughtered millions. Alexander Petrenko, AKA Stormcrow, has taught me many things. I shall use them utterly in your service, Your Highness. And I shall see you on the World's Throne!"

Kanon left the room. He decided it would be time to pay a visit to Rivalz Cardemonde's bar.

*()((**((*&&^%%&*((*^^^*()))*&^^*(*&&**&*(&*(&

( Nunnally)

" Suzaku, I feel very bad about Odysseus. I think he is deceiving us."

The Masked Knight removed the Zero Mask, allowing his emerald eyes to meet Nunnally's amethyst eyes, " I told you already, it shouldn't be possible. Lelouch Geassed all of the Royal family during his Coronation to acknowledge him and be his slaves. Hell, Carline works as a cleaning maid. Odysseus has been acting odd for awhile. But I'm more concerned about Schniezel."

Nunnally frowned, " Brother Schniezel is always supposed to recognize you, as Zero correct? But I swear I heard him call you Suzaku the last time we met him. No one alive, besides C.C, Jeremiah, and Sayoko, knows you are alive outside of this room. Everyone else is supposed to believe you are Zero. Speaking of oddities, I received a report from our contact in Japan."

Suzaku never did like the fact that Nunnally felt the need to keep spies in a nation so obviously allied with them, but went with it, " What does she say this time?"

Nunnally looked Suzaku in the eyes, her unease obvious, " Villetta said that there is a Black Knight Adjudicator there who knows too much. He digs around in the past. Gottfried Hansen, she said. He's already snooped around in Diethard's old reports. He appears to know that the Zero who led the Black Knights to victory was Lelouch, and not you. He also recognizes the differences."

Suzaku looked panicked, " Is there a chance he might reveal the truth? Especially if he has proof?"

Nunnally gave the Knight of Zero a sweet smile that underlined her real intention, " Of course not. No one would ever believe him. Not a Euro Universe fool who's overstayed his welcome in too many places. Well, not the Phoenix of Berlin."

Suzaku grimaced, " I thought that he was dead. The Phoenix was blasted by Gino in the last battle of Berlin."

" Not according to the reports that Rivalz sent me. He's been in contact with a man named Alexander 'Stormcrow' Petrenko about something called Project Lazarus that has them both really excited. Given that both are heads of Rogue Legions now, I would say this would be bad news. And we know that Marlowe Harrison, infamous for developing the Life Giver Compound, is with them. It wouldn't be outlandish to say they have revived my brother."

Suzaku flinched. He remembered the attempt to revive Euphemia. For the most part, it had been successful, but the scientists involved showed him alone because they feared what Cornelia's reaction would be. Given that they hadn't been able to recreate Euphie's mindset due to the damage the Geass did, she had the intelligence of only a two year old. Suzaku hadn't hesitated to order her termination.

Suzaku said, "If they bring back Lelouch, will it be Lelouch of the Rebellion, or will it be someone else? Euphie was too damaged when they brought her back, and they couldn't repair her mind. They have to have perfected the procedure. If they hadn't, they wouldn't risk bringing Lelouch back. Also, who knows what Lelouch would be thinking of when he awakens? We would be in a bad spot if he woke with dreams of vengeance on his mind. I think he still hadn't forgiven the Black Knights when he died."

Nunnally looked downcast, " I would love to see my brother again, but I fear that the next time we meet eyes, it will be as enemies again. I hate fighting Onii-sama."

" And he hates fighting you too, Nunnally. But if I have my way, then you will never see him on the battlefield again. I will remove him before I allow him to fight you again. I only allowed it the first time because we had to."

Nunnally smiled at him, " Thank you, Suzaku. I'll hold you to that promise. I would rather him dead, with my good memories of him, than him alive and trying to kill me."

" As her majesty wills."

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* * *

><p>( Wilhelm)<p>

The infamous German KMF pilot wasn't a known person in Tokyo. Well, unless you considered Gino Wienberg, he was completely off the grid. Stormcrow had directed him to infiltrate the Stadtfeldt wedding, and cause a big problem. Seeing as the wedding was still a few weeks off, he had time to plan. Unfortunately, these types of missions weren't his gig. They were Typhon's specialty.

The Phoenix laughed as he considered each member of the Blizzard Group and the leaders of the Rogue Legions. Each one was designed for one task. Typhon was a Spec Ops guy, but failed in a KMF ( and life in general). Wilhelm was a KMF pilot for the ages, but he was slight of frame and useless outside of one. Stormcrow had his underworld connections, but no battle skills at all. However, if what he'd heard of Stormcrow's favorite adopted daughter, Ophelia, was any indication, she would be a huge problem if not on their side.

The Phoenix brushed by a man with mauve hair. Wilhelm immediately stiffened as he watched Kanon Maldini, notorious for being Schniezel El Britannia's Aide de camp, walk into the same bar he was about to come out of. He immediately turned around and hailed the man. Kanon fixed the Phoenix with his sky blue eyes, " Phoenix…."

" Call me Hansen, Kanon Maldini. I've never seen you at a bar before."

The aide glared, " I've hit a rough spot. I've been replaced."

" Oh ho? Now, we should speak of this over some vodka."

The former aide smirked, " My points exactly, old friend."

* * *

><p>AN: So Geass boy wants to go big or go home. The battles begin soon.

Alexander: His relationship with Nina, and Ophelia, will be a problem to keep an eye on. It's an effort to give a legitimate background story to Nina's irrational xenophobia. Think Viktor Reznov when envisioning his appearance. If you want to know where I got his nickname from, look up Jorn Lande's " Stormcrow" on Youtube.

OCs: This'll be the last chapter to introduce a new OC for a while. At least, until the KMFs start to flesh out.

Andrew: His Multi-personality disorder becomes a bigger issue later, as it will have a habit of popping up at inopportune times

Wilhelm: His KMF skills are not over the top. After all, Kallen could toast just about everyone's ass ( Including Gino, Luciano, the Valkyrie Squad, and Anya) with the Guren SEITEN at the end, and Suzaku was the only person who presented her a challenge.

Lelouch's lady troubles: A joke about the fact that Lelouch was hopelessly unaware of his effect on the female species.

Numbers: Don't know the exact numbers of the Damocles battle, but that is factoring NC ( non combat) Personnel as well as combat personnel. After all, someone was flying those dreadnoughts and preparing the KMFs for battle. With that being said, the size of the Phoenix Legion is emphasized because as you will shortly find out, it is the only legion that any of the governments legitimately fear.


	3. Chapter 3 Let it Begin

Chapter 2 Let it Begin

A/N: This chapter has a lot going on, with multitudes of POV switches and time shifts. But if you read it linearly, keeping track of who's where shouldn't be too difficult. Also, I warn that most of the Black Knights are probably out of character. Believe it or not, guys like Toudoh and Xingke are considerably harder to write than Lelouch, Nunnally or Suzaku.

* * *

><p>" So, this is the Ghost Prototype. Doesn't look anything like the Tristan or the Lancelot."<p>

Marlowe tittered, " That's the beauty of the machine! But it has many of the same features if you look carefully. Varis rifle, MVS swords, ability to shift forms, they're all there. Now, you need to get acquainted with why we call this Ghost Prototype. Jump in."

Lelouch pulled himself into the cockpit of the KMF. It was similar to the Galahad ( Bismarck's KMF) on outside looks, but it was jet black with green highlights. On the inside, it was much different. There were five different monitors. One monitored something called the Event Horizon drive system. He radioed, " Hey Marlowe, what's this Event Horizon System?"

Marlowe's smiling face appeared on the radio feed, " That's what me and Brenden spent developing back when we worked at the Toromo Institute. Using what was left of Nina Einstein's notes, we developed a near flawless power system. We call it the Event Horizon System, because on a Black Hole, that's the point of no return. We intended the name to be the opposite of the Yggdrasil drive, with Yggdrasil being the Norse Tree of Life. "

Lelouch nodded inside of the cockpit. His eyes were drawn immediately to a weapon system called the Artificial Sun Projection. Marlowe answered over the radio, " Behold what makes this thing the Ghost Prototype. The Artificial Sun Projection mechanism allows you to project up to three mirror images of the KMF. Before you go crazy in the frame, I need to review your medical report."

Lelouch hissed in the cockpit. Marlowe answered in return, " Looks like your visual augmentation and reflex augmentation has taken root. Stamina boosts are performing well. Well, the fact that even with cryogenic preservation, we had to insert sakuradite into your mind. We also took the opportunity to slip a small inhibitor in as well, which will negate any Gefjun Disturbers you might run across. The Black Knights are still absurdly fond of that device, despite it being rather out of date."

Lelouch smiled, " You mean that I can think faster and move faster now?"

" You're going to need it in Ghost Prototype. That thing isn't going to be able to take very much if the Luminous shielding fails. Plus, we overhauled the hell out of the maneuvering systems. It will respond in tune to your actions. Perhaps a little too quickly, as Andrew found earlier when he crashed the Fenrir into Traffic Control 3. Speaking of which, you will be testing this thing against Andrew. Ready?"

Lelouch immediately found the control joysticks, " Of course."

Lelouch frowned when a somewhat larger, icy blue, frame flew into the arena they were using. The head of the KMF was a wolf's head. It's energy wings were designed in the form of talons. Two VARIS rifles were on its sides. Two strange looking blades were in its hands. Two missile launchers were on its shoulders. Lelouch asked, " So, what's the capability of that mech?"

Brenden Howell answered, " That child is my best thus far! A prodigy I might say. Fast, maneuverable, full of fire power and special abilities! Keep yourself alive out there, Lulu boy."

_Did that scientist just call me Lulu? _Was his only thought before having to parry a slash from the shimmering blade Andrew was using. Ghost dodged beneath the attacks and opened fire with a set of slash harkens. True to technique, Andrew used Suzaku's signature spinning heel kick to knock them aside and close for another assault.

He watched his shielding carefully. Despite being rocked by constant attacks, the power level never dropped below ninety percent. Marlowe broadcast out, " Alright, test the Sun Projection."

Lelouch opened the compartment and flipped the switch. On the outside, the Ghost Prototype blurred as Lelouch back stepped to avoid a rain of energy fire. In the Fenrir's cockpit, Andrew rubbed his eyes as the Ghost split into three identical copies of itself. Two split off into separate directions and opened fire. Andrew promptly dove right for the center frame. Exactly as Lelouch had predicted. He heard Andrew's frustration when his blades passed right through the illusion, and Lelouch came up from the left flank and pinned him with his MVS swords.

Marlowe applauded, " Well done, Emperor! You've already mastered the Artificial Sun Projection. Now if only we could get Quantum Leaper and Timewave Zero to work."

" What do they do?"

Marlowe chuckled, " Quantum Leaper allows a short range, almost instantaneous, teleportation to an area. Timewave Zero is the main attack besides Chaosweaver. It allows a distortion of matter to take place in a linear skillshot to deal heavy damage to all units caught in it. Chaosweaver is similar to the Shinkiro's Scatter Laser, only more powerful. That's the Ghost's main weapon. The Prism Canon. Those MVS swords aren't just standard either. They're called Morphogenesis blades."

Lelouch smirked in the cockpit. THIS was a weapon he could use. He asked, " So what does the Fenrir do?"

" Besides being a jacked up clone of the Lancelot and have some special abilities, not much. It has Fierce Winter, which spreads it's wings to maximum length and rains energy blasts down. It has the Driving Wind, which amplifies it's speed. But otherwise, it really isn't that creative of a weapon. But it suits Andrew excellently because of his fighting style."

_Yeah, just like Suzaku's. Complete with his little helicopter kick. I wonder, did Suzaku teach this guy to fight? _Lelouch thought as he pressed two fingers to his head. He felt a slight headache, and a burning sensation in both eyes. He jerked up, and pulled the nearest reflective surface to him. Twin hawk sigils burned on his eyes. He gave his arrogant smirk. His Geass was back.

Marlowe seemed aware of this, " Emperor Lelouch, it is my displeasure to inform you that renowned neurologist Rakshata Chawla discovered the region of the brain that the Geass works on, and developed an effective vaccine for it."

_You've got to be kidding me._

* * *

><p>546677orooyroyoo4o6436<p>

( Japan)

Rivalz Cardemonde was living his dream. He owned a prestigious bar that entertained everyone from the wealthy to the poor, with the best bands in the world coming to play. He was married to the magnificent Milly Ashford, his childhood crush, now famous reporter, that he had almost lost to Lloyd Asplund. And to think he did all of this while still sort of mourning the death of his other friend, Demon Emperor Lelouch Vi Britannia. Though he vastly preferred to think of him as Lelouch Lamperouge.

He waived at the Russian who walked into the bar. The guttural voice of Alexander Stormcrow filtered to him, " We would like our normal room, Mr. Cardemonde. Please bring your best vodka."

Rivalz tossed Stormcrow the key, " Just don't tear it up, alright?"

Stormcrow smirked, " Not a problem. Don't ask questions."

Stormcrow led the ten men into the small private room of Rivalz Cardemonde's bar. In the middle of the room, was a large round table with a holographic projector similar to the one on the Damocles. Alexander gestured for the men to sit down. Almost immediately, Jeremiah Gottwald spoke up, " His majesty has returned to us. How long before we can move?"

Alexander smirked, " It will not be very long now, Lord Gottwald. Head of the Orange Legion."

Gottwald smiled. His own Rogue Legion was the only Legion still in Britannia. As such, the elusive Orange Legion wasn't considered a Rogue Legion. They cleverly disguised themselves as orange farmers on the lands that Jeremiah's family owned.

A second man spoke up, " Stormcrow, how can we be certain that we will win?"

Jeremiah answered, " His Majesty took over the Empire with only one man and woman at his side last time. He can manage with the eighty thousand of the Phoenix Legion. Isn't that right, Duke Rochester, AKA Claudio Darlton?"

The brown haired former Glaston Knight, scowled, " Not intending any offense to His Majesty. He, after all, conquered the world with us as his sword. But this time, the enemy is much better prepared. There will be no Geass to aid us."

Stormcrow slammed his fist down, " There is to be no arguing amongst ourselves. This is what destroyed the Black Knights during the Second Rebellion. We must instead, steel ourselves for battle. I've brought my best warrior with me, Typhon Jameson. Using him we will announce our presence to the world during Koizuki's wedding. Our target is the groom, Rai. Rurushu says that he wants to bring down Kallen himself."

Rurushu, the Japanese pronunciation of Lelouch, was the decided code name for Lelouch during the meeting. Jeremiah commented, " Not that I can blame him. But does he honestly believe he has the skill in a Knightmare to bring down the Crimson Dragon? Especially if she's in the Guren?"

Marlowe snickered at the table, " There's nothing Lloyd Asplund or Rakshata Chawla have developed that can stop the Ghost Prototype, or the Ecliptica, I think he calls it. We've almost got the Quantum Leaper down, and we just need to tweak the Timewave Zero, and it will be fully operational."

Stormcrow laughed, " I was watching him earlier. He would probably be just fine with Chaosweaver. Anyway, onto business. Is the Phoenix Legion in position in China?"

Wilhelm ran a hand through his blond hair, " Naturally! We've already got plenty of men stationed in every major population center. If the old Eunuch supporters weren't still screwing with Xingke, and India wasn't trying to get independence, then we might have some trouble. But, I think we can pull this off. After all, Kaguya invited him to Kallen's wedding. Striking while the boy is absent will hurt him."

Claudio frowned, " Nice to see we have no honor. Is this all according to Lord Rurushu's plan?"

Stormcrow nodded, " He relayed the plans to me almost a day after he was revived, that being three weeks ago. That is why it was imperative that we get our troops moving. We can't let the Black Knights respond before we seize the KMF factories. Once that is complete, we will have victory."

Claudio nodded, " It's been hard enough hiding the five hundred frames we've got in China right now."

Marlowe raised his head, " By the way, Claudio, how is the Helios?"

Claudio smiled, " Thought you would never ask. Handles like a dream. Better than any Gloucester or Gareth I ever used. I would have no reservations of facing Guilford and Cornelia at the same time during their primes in that thing."

The Helios was the first Custom Job that Marlowe and Brenden had cranked out when they joined the Blizzard Group. It was a year old, but the golden frame was well known already around German and in Poland. Claudio worked as a Terrorist hunter so he was able to get even more upgrades for it.

Stormcrow's phone buzzed. He stood up and answered, " Hello?"

"_It's Ophelia. I did it. Schniezel is dead."_

" Good. Did you get Kanon to come to us?"

" _He's on his way."_

" Well done, my daughter. Return as soon as possible."

"_Yes father."_

Stormcrow hung up. Gottwald smirked, " Has our lives just gotten easier?"

" Ophelia has just eliminated Schniezel. The former prince will not oppose Rurushu this time."

Marlowe held up a toast, " To victory."

" To victory,", they all shouted, except Gottwald, who muttered, " All Hail Lelouch!"

* * *

><p>())*&amp;&amp;*((&amp;^^&amp;*^%^&amp;*^&amp;*^&amp;(^&amp;*^7<p>

( Suzaku)

" Empress Nunnally, it looks like our suspicions involving Schniezel were unfounded. He has been found dead."

Nunnally actually brightened slightly, " Really? Has his cause of death been confirmed?"

" Bullet to the head."

Nunnally smiled, " Then we shall have to reward Ophelia for her services. Forward the payment to her. Tell her to be on standby. Have Sayoko be ready as well. We may need to eliminate Odysseus when we return from Kallen's wedding."

Suzaku frowned in his mask. He rather didn't want to go to that wedding. But Nunnally absolutely insisted on attending, and Suzaku wasn't going to let her go anywhere without him near. He asked, " Who is the lucky guy?"

Nunnally tittered, " Some former Black Knight member named Rai. Don't remember his last name. Seems like she finally got over her infatuation with Lelouch."

_Took her long enough, _Suzaku thought but didn't say. Instead, he pointed out, " Don't know if I can consider him a lucky guy. Kallen's a looker, but she's rather fiery. Hope he can handle her."

" Oh, Suzaku…."

A man came bursting in, he kneeled quickly and handed a report to Nunnally. She opened it, and promptly dropped it. Suzaku asked, " Nunnally, what's wrong?"

" Rivalz said that a bunch of men gathered in his bar a few days ago. Led by the Stormcrow."

Suzaku frowned, " That is problematic. I wonder what they are up to?"

" We don't know, that's the problem Suzaku!"

* * *

><p>&amp;&amp;*(%$^&amp;(%(&amp;%(&amp;(%&amp;$^(%^&amp;(%^&amp;(%$^&amp;(%$^&amp;(%^(&amp;%^&amp;(%^&amp;(%$^&amp;(%^&amp;(%$&amp;<p>

( Meeting of the Minds Hidden in China)

" Soldiers of the Empire, All Hail His Majesty Lelouch Vi Britannia!"

The thousands of the Phoenix Legion knelt with their fists to their chests, bellowing, " All Hail Lelouch,", as Lelouch walked across the stage in front of them to sit down on the throne they had made for him. Lelouch commanded, " Rise my soldiers!"

A brown haired man walked in front of the soldiers, knelt, and then stood with a second salute, " Emperor Lelouch Vi Britannia, I am Claudio Darlton, adopted son of Andreas Darlton and holder of the elected position Duke of Rochester. We await your orders."

Lelouch raised a questioning eyebrow, " May I ask why a Darlton serves me? As I recall, I am directly responsible for the death of your father and two of your brothers. I am indirectly responsible for the deaths of the other two."

Claudio lowered his eyes, " Sometimes, a soldier can never truly leave war behind. During peace, he still yearns for battle. Despite all that had happened, I still wished to see the flames of war to be born. I couldn't live under Nunnally. Maybe if Cornelia had become Empress, but never kind hearted Nunnally. Never the woman who sliced our proud military to shreds. Never…

Never the woman who tried to use Damocles to rule the world. I didn't and still don't agree with the whole Zero thing, but I will see someone who knows the military on the throne. Guilford and Cornelia don't care, though they've fought so much longer than I. They don't have the fire, the fury, the reason to keep fighting."

Lelouch muttered, " So you have your own hidden reasons to fight as well. A reason so great that you would join the man who killed your father, and was responsible in some ways for the deaths of your brothers."

" Yes milord. For that, I have forsaken all of my previous loyalties, and swear fealty only to you. I, Claudio Darlton, swear fealty to Lelouch Vi Britannia, 99th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, and Lord Zero, in all matters."

Lelouch smiled, " Excellent. I, Lelouch Vi Britannia, accept your oaths of fealty. May honor find you if you serve well. Death if you serve treacherously."

Claudio stood up, and turned to the soldiers of the Phoenix Legion, " All Hail Lelouch!"

" All Hail Lelouch!"

Jeremiah Gottwald walked in, a scowl on his face, " That's supposed to be my duty. Alexander will be here momentarily."

Wilhelm Temkhe strode into the room next, with a confident smirk dotting his slight face, " Lord Emperor, the men are ready. We've already got soldiers positioned all around the main population centers of China. So what's our distraction going to be?"

Alexander entered via a side door, " We will be using Diethard's old Line Omega to create a broadcast that will hopefully sow some doubt and confusion into our enemies. As you recall, I was the one Diethard sent all of his failsafe data too. This includes his documentary where he revealed who Zero really was."

Lelouch explained, " Personally, I care not what happens to the Zero Persona. What I do care about, is victory. Typhon is already stationed in Tokyo in preparation of the assassination of Kallen Kozuki's fiancé. When Line Omega goes online, Wilhelm and Claudio will lead the Phoenix and Lost Wolf Legions in an assault on every major population center in China.

" Wilhelm, you will storm the Forbidden City. You will kill Empress Tianzi and display her head in a blatant attempt to provoke the Black Knights. Toudoh is rational, but Xingke will despair upon seeing her death. He will rush us in an attempt to get vengeance. This must be done in the twenty minute broadcast. During this, I will begin my own speech.

" I will mostly just denounce the world like I always have. This time frame is the time we have to take China, and regroup in time to face the Black Knights. After they mobilize, Xingke will likely overuse his power as Commander in Chief to send almost everything they have after us. Jeremiah, you and Alexander will take splinter fleets from my own, and lead them on a roundabout route to Tokyo.

" It will be a pincer movement. I don't expect the Britannian forces to be of significant consequence. You will take them down. I will lead the forces that engage the Black Knights personally, from the Ghost Prototype, or Ecliptica as I prefer to call it. The Beleriand will support me. Claudio and Wilhelm will be my under commanders. Any questions?"

Jeremiah sulked, " I would rather be the one standing at your side during these conflicts, my emperor."

" Regrettable, but the Surtur can only be piloted by you. We need to show Britannia and the Black Knights that we mean business."

Jeremiah acquiesced, " Very well, Milord."

* * *

><p>**(((*&amp;^%^**^%%%^&amp;*&amp;*^%%%&amp;**&amp;%^&amp;*&amp;%%&amp;*&amp;%^&amp;<p>

( Undisclosed location. A Week Later)

Wearing special contacts, Lelouch ordered his men from the bridge of his ship. He watched the video feed of Kallen's wedding on Typhon's helm. He ordered, " Is Line Omega open?"

" Yes, Your Majesty! We have just cracked it and are prepared for the upload to begin. We are at your command."

Lelouch smirked, " Good. Typhon, be ready to take the shot. Are you zeroed in?"

" Yes, Your Majesty. I only await your orders."

He radioed Wilhelm, " Are you in position in the hangars just outside of the Forbidden City?"

" Yes Milord! Orders?"

Lelouch ordered, " You and the Phoenix Legion are to take China. Raze the Forbidden City to the Ground if needed. Victory must be ours. You know the plan."

" Plan Alpha will be enacted. Awaiting your command."

Lelouch pressed the buzzer on his chair, " Typhon….NOW!"

" Yes Your Highness."

A single shot rang out over the crisp air of Tokyo. One man dropped dead with a bullet in his head. All hell was about to break loose. Lelouch opened his channels.

" Wilhelm, begin now! Activate Line Omega Now! I want that documentary to be uploaded shortly. Await my signal."

He watched Suzaku, in full Zero regalia, run up to the stage. _Ha, this is perfect. More perfect than I planned. I guess Nunnally attended even though I thought she wouldn't. _ Lelouch ordered, " Activate now."

* * *

><p>&amp;*&amp;(%(&amp;*%)&amp;*^&amp;(&amp;$^*^&amp;(%^&amp;*^&amp;(%)^&amp;(%^&amp;*%^&amp;)(%^&amp;*^%&amp;<p>

( HITV Station)

Stormcrow felt his pocket buzz to give the signal. He stood up with his Twin Mustang Sally Pistols in hand, shouting, " Nobody move! "

Twenty men followed him in. They quickly neutralized the TV reporters, and opened their way into Line Omega. Now he was waiting.

* * *

><p>567389^*^&amp;*&amp;(^&amp;*%^&amp;*^&amp;*%^&amp;(%^($(^*$^*$*<p>

( Suzaku)

" Kallen! Get yourself….."

Suzaku gasped in his helm, causing enough of a stir in itself, when Diethard Reid appeared on the massive TV screens all around the city. His voice rang out.

"_**This is Diethard Reid. If this is being aired, then it means that I am dead. If this is being aired, it also means that I have been betrayed, and that certain parties must now pay for their actions. This is Diethard Reid. This….is my legacy."**_

Every Black Knight member in the world felt their hearts stop as the fateful footage that Diethard had shot began to roll. Ohgi shouted, " Someone! Stop the broadcast!"

A Russian voice sounded out, " Oh no, Kaname Ohgi. This time, you sink with the ship."

Smiles were worn all across every Legion as the footage showing the Black Knights turning on Lelouch, and his revelation as being Zero aired. Suzaku never panicked in his life. But he was panicking now. He began to leave right. But the part where Zero unmasked himself to the Black Knights, was being shown in extra slow motion for dramatic effect. When it was finished, nearly every Black Knight was wondering what they were going to do now. Onboard his new flagship, Lelouch was laughing in a maniacal way similar to the way his father had when Lelouch had accidentally ordered Euphie to massacre the Japanese.

Suzaku flinched when he felt the bullet ricochet off his mask. He froze as it began to split. The voice of Stormcrow shouted, " Your Zero is a Lie!"

The mask split in two. Suzaku was revealed. He was screwed.

But the fun was only just beginning. At the end of Reid's little broadcast, came a new one. A strange symbol, an eye, appeared on the screens. Then, a new voice rang out.

" Harken to me world! Listen to my voice and fear me in your sleep. Behold those who have power. Behold those who would dare oppose me! I am the King of Nothing! The one who decries the Black Knights and declares war on the world! Mighty empires rise, and empires fall. Countries come into being, and dissolve into nothingness. People are born, and then they die. A never ending cycle! But who are we to decline the cry of our brothers who demand we to save them? Who are we to deny the weak their power? Who is to deny the weak the right to have their solace?

I am. I laugh at the dawn of solace, and scoff on the reckoning day. We were told we had to serve our empire. But then we all died! But now we rise again! This is the rise of a new challenger for the throne of the World! All those who hear me, listen well! Behold the conspiracy that lies uncovered! Behold these lies that the world is built upon!

It is not my choice to start the wars again. Rather, it is an option that I am forced to take. For I must remove this civilization to start a new one. Already, the Chinese Federation is in possession."

Xingke flinched in the background. Images of a burning Forbidden city popped up on the screens. The Land Fortresses were decimated. Fields of destroyed Knighmares. Nothing but smoldering ruins. The Empress' head on a pike. Knightmares marching under a banner of an all-seeing eye. A golden Knightmare leading the forces into battle.

" The first civilization has already fallen! And we could not have done this without some help either! It is our pleasure to turn our eye to the rest of the world. Fear us for we shall judge those who remain. We shall destroy those who oppose us! Think well, for tomorrow may be your last day on this earth! To create a new world, we must first destroy the old. Fare well!"

With that, the broadcast ended. The Chinese delegation were devastated, Xingke the worst, given his vows to protect the Empress. Kallen shouted, " Whoever this is will pay!"

Suzaku looked at the scene with disdain, muttering, " I think I already know who it is. There's but one man with that kind of a flare for the dramatic. Nunnally, you were right. Lelouch is back."

It took three hours for the Black Knights to organize themselves. At that point, the Rogue Legions had subdued all remaining Chinese forces.

* * *

><p>&amp;*(*^%^(((&amp;^^&amp;**(*^&amp;****(*(&amp;&amp;((&amp;*((*&amp;<p>

( Ikaruga IV)

Kyoshiro Toudoh was having a bad day. A very bad day. A new menace had appeared on the horizon, had already destroyed China, and was probably now targeting Japan. His enemy's propaganda, everything from slandering the Black Knights to hailing Lelouch Vi Britannia as a prodigal Emperor, was blaring throughout the world. Unstable regions of Britannia were already shaking with unrest. Even though the effect was probably much less than what the new threat envisioned, there was still a noted increase in unrest in Japan.

Most of the remaining Black Knights from the end of the last war were gathered in the Bridge. Xingke was a notable absence, probably upset about Empress Tianzi's death while he was out of country. According to reports, a force of two hundred Knightmares and nearly two thousand infantry men had swept the Forbidden City, seemingly on a mission just to make sure the Empress' head was not on her shoulders by the end of the broadcast. That was the most disturbing fact. That in the span of about thirty minutes, a force of unknown power had swept through and captured one of the largest countries in the world. Quite decisively, as the reports indicated.

Toudoh was vastly concerned about the reports of new Knightmares being deployed. Knightmares that didn't seem to need refueling. There was a report on a golden frame, called the Helios, and one on a flaming frame called the Phoenix. Both were supposedly terrors. They would be good for the new Zangetsu MK III. Since the first had been destroyed in the Damocles war, and the second had been destroyed in an act of terrorism, the newest Zangetsu was vastly improved. But it was nothing to the new Guren. He hadn't read the reports, but they called it the Guren Phoenix Blade.

Toudoh and the other Black Knights, holding their meetings, didn't know that their supposedly top generation Knightmares were rather behind the newest of the Blizzard Group. While the grunt KMFs of the Black Knights outstripped those of the Legions, the leadership were in possession of Knightmares the likes of which had not been seen by the world yet.

" How did a sniper get within our perimeter? We had the place locked down tight, Kallen! Trust me, we wouldn't 'allow' something like this to happen on one of our oldest and best members' wedding day!"

Tamaki wasn't going to hold the Crimson Dragon in place long though. Toudoh decided that it was time to take command, since there was no Zero now. He silenced the table, " This war is now ours. Whoever this new foe is, he seems to have an issue with the Black Knights. If he wishes to fight us, then we shall oblige him."

Xingke walked into the meeting room, " He has already taken the Chinese Federation. We must meet him on his terms. This already bodes ill for our efforts. He who chooses the battlefield chooses the victor."

Minami asked, " How long until we are joined by Britannian forces?"

Toudoh answered, " I am uncertain. It appears that the revelation that Kururugi Suzaku, man of a thousand betrayals, was Zero has significantly impacted our Public Relations. Especially in Britannia, where many now see Suzaku's killing of the Demon, Lelouch, as a hate crime committed by an Eleven who didn't know his place. I don't know who stokes the flames in Britannia. I only know that we must deal with this threat swiftly, lest this enemy gain overwhelming numbers."

Xingke looked at their deployment, " Toudoh, I wish vengeance as much as anyone, but I feel that it is a mistake to leave so few Black Knights in Japan. It is our capital now."

The Japanese general looked at his Chinese equivalent, " It is a gamble we will have to take. It is my hope that Britannia will be able to ensnare the enemy should they try the inevitable, and attempt to take Japan in our absence. It is clear that cowardice runs in the enemy's veins."

" But striking under the veil of secrecy is one of the best tactics ever to be developed. Honor or not, the man we are facing is a master of playing his enemy against themselves. I've only twice before seen someone play anyone as effortlessly as this. One is Schniezel, who is dead. The other is the Demon, Lelouch, who is also dead. Or supposed to be dead. Have we discredited the possibility that he had a son with C.C?"

Tamaki blurted in, " Why would a ten year old kid start a rebellion?"

For once, the hothead had a good point. It was doubtful that a ten year old would start a rebellion on his own. And men of the caliber they were facing? They would never follow a kid. Not even if it were the son of Lelouch Vi Britannia. No, these men….they would only follow someone who was the real deal.

Kallen got everyone's attention by slamming her fist on the table, " Is it possible that we are facing….Lelouch himself?"

Tamaki was first to denounce, " You sure your head isn't a little touched, Kallen? It ain't possible to raise the dead."

Kallen crossed her arms, " We've thought he was dead before."

Toudoh finished for her, " Only for him to come back and destroy us. As impossible as it sounds, we cannot deny that this may in fact be, Lelouch Vi Britannia. If it is, then where in the world did he get these men from? Everyone hates the man."

Kallen flinched, but no one noticed. However, she wasn't the only one who sometimes wished this was true. Toudoh in particular, who's oldest son was a believer in the Demon.

* * *

><p>( Lelouch)<p>

" That was excellent. I've missed giving those speeches so much. Now, to the task at hand."

Jeremiah bowed, " Your majesty, the Black Knights have begun to move just as you predicted. What are our courses of action?"

Lelouch switched to the tactical map, " Our army will split into five forces. Three, led by myself, will engage the Black Knights directly. Two, will sneak behind the enemy, and pincer them. Once we have dealt with the advanced force, I will send you, Jeremiah, to Tokyo with the Orange Legion to wipe out the resistance there. If I am correct, then Toudoh has thrown the gauntlet, leaving only a token force to defend his capital. A bold move by a bold man, but foolish none the less. I imagine this will not take long. But I have underestimated the Black Knights before."

Andrew declared, " Those fools are no match, Your Majesty. You will have the Japanese Throne by the end of the month!"

Lelouch smirked at the man, " Not a bad ideal. But idealistic (_Shirley-esque)_ at best. Toudoh will not let us have Japan as easily as Xingke let us have China. Plus, my sister will soon dirty her little fingers in our bloody affairs. We have a time frame of three months to remove the Black Knights from Japan, before Britannia bring its might to bear against us. Separate, and we can handle them both. Together, there will be problems."

Continuing where he left off, Lelouch began to assign commands, " Claudio and Jeremiah will be my under-commanders. I want Wilhelm and Stormcrow to lead the other two. Yes, I'm aware of your lack of battle skill, Alexander, but with my guidance, you can overcome it. Don't know if you remember, but I once commanded two almost successful rebellions that I only lost because of treachery."

Jeremiah narrowed his eyes. Lelouch knew that the Lord Orange would love nothing better than to take on the entire Black Knight organization by himself for their treachery at the end of the last war. The only reason Lelouch didn't let him do it was because it was suicide.

Some of the Phoenix Legion genuinely surprised Lelouch with their membership. Claudio Darlton, the Glaston Knight he had once Geassed to get allow him into the Black Knight executions, was just one.

A subsection of the Orange Legion, called the Uranus Legion, was under his older brother, Odysseus' command. They were mostly business men, so they didn't really count. But it was where he got most of his funding from.

Lelouch looked over the tactical map, showing that the vanguard of the Black Knight force, numbering nearly triple his force selection of one thousand, was screaming towards him. They would arrive in an hour if he didn't go meet them. Which he planned to do. Which is where he planned to show off ten years of research, development, and construction of the largest airship this side of Damocles.

The Beleriand was a huge. Not as large as Damocles, but easily dwarfing the Ikaruga incarnate they would no doubt be facing, it carried ten whole squadrons of KMF forces. Nearly one hundred in one ship alone. The Logistics of deploying his force of almost a thousand was astounding. Suffice to say, he never thought he would be so indebted to his older brother Odysseus.

_Beleriand. Named after Tolkien's first Age kingdom. It will field the likes of Feanor and Meadhros once more!_ Lelouch thought with a little bit of happiness. It had more than its fair share of surprises, including a fully functional camo system that could hide it even from the naked eye. He wouldn't even get started on the shielding and weaponry. That was best left to the actual battle.

His tactical display flared up. Recon 1 radioed in, " Bauglir this is Ghost Six, we have advance forces approaching at three o'clock. Orders?"

" Are you in stealth?"

" Yes milord."

" Allow them through. Ambush after they leave IFF range. Should be in roughly two minutes. Follow."

" Orders received."

Lelouch switched to camera feed from Ghost Six. The new Black Knight Frames, named the Anketsu IIIs, were just upgraded version of the old frames he had used during his second rebellion. They wouldn't be a problem. He watched passively as Ghost Squad ambushed the recon force of five. The battle ended quickly to the Rail Rifles of Ghost Squad.

Rail Rifles used special Gauss technology that was cutting edge even for Marlowe and Brenden. The Beleriand was equipped with ten Magnetically Accelerated Rail Cannons, or MARCs. He really wanted to see what those things would do to Blaze Luminous shielding, which Brenden insisted they were specially designed to destroy.

Lelouch asked, " Is Ecliptica ready for me?"

An orderly answered, " Yes, your Majesty! The Quantum Leaper is now ready for battle. Zero Squad is ready."

Lelouch laughed, remembering he had named his Command Squad, Zero Squad just out of habit. Gone was the fact that he wasn't Zero anymore. Nor was this the Black Rebellion. He stood up, and began to make his way to the hanger. Andrew radioed in, " All set for battle, Your Majesty. They will taste my claws."

He answered, " Just be ready to follow my orders, Andrew. I'm not the greatest pilot, but with our considerable technology advantage, we should come out of this nicely. You know what the Zangetsu looks like?"

" Yes Your Majesty. Pilot: Kyoshiro Toudoh."

Lelouch smirked, " He is your target. If the Zangetsu appears, it is your job to incapacitate, kill, destroy, or otherwise remove it. Besides Kallen and Xingke, Toudoh is their best pilot. Without him, they will be crippled. Plus, it will likely infuriate the others into making a careless mistake. No enemy is easier than an angry one."

Lelouch radioed Wilhelm, " Get the Phoenix ready. It is time to be reborn in flames."

" Aye Your Majesty! They shall feel the heat of the stars this day."

Lelouch entered the hanger. He took note of the readiness of the Ecliptica. Black and Gold, just the way he liked it. Its twin MVS Morphogenesis blades protruded from its back. The Prism Cannon was concealed in the chest carapace, just like the Shinkiro. Long, dragon like wings protruded from the back.

An interesting design element that only Marlowe and Brenden used was that they used energy wings yes, but the wings were always projected from actual physical wings. Wings that looked almost real. They spread and flapped like the wings of a bird.

Some of the wings, like those on the Phoenix, could be charged and used for actually attacks. By overloading the capacitors, the pilots would fly in a high speeds and wing swipe the enemy. Normally, it was an unexpected attack, and it gave some KMFs, like the Fenrir, a longer melee range than normal.

He climbed the ladder and jumped into the cockpit. He sealed the entrance behind him. The Ecliptica used facial recognition, rather than key drives and key codes. Or in Lelouch's case, he had to use the Geass on the recognizer. It was a further attempt to keep someone from stealing it.

The Ecliptica flared into life. Five monitors swept in, and three keyboards. He pulled a handle, and the keyboards moved away. The Float system activated. Soon, he and the rest of his command squad were moving out.

* * *

><p>532789^&amp;%^&amp;*&amp;*&amp;*&amp;(^&amp;^&amp;**&amp;*^&amp;(&amp;^(^&amp;(&amp;(^&amp;*^&amp;*<p>

( Ikaruga IV)

" General Toudoh! We've got twenty frames inbound at a high speed. IFF unknown."

Xingke ordered, " Find out now! We have already lost twenty frames to unknown forces. Try hailing them."

The radar engineer nodded. He switched to their frequency, " Inbound forces, respond! Repeat, inbound forces, respond or we will be forced to fire!"

Radio silence. Xingke turned to Toudoh, " Let's go. We don't know the true nature of these troops."

" Agreed. Best be cautious. If they're our own, we simply let them in. If not, destroy them. Is Kallen already deployed?"

Minami replied, " Guren is already afield. She seemed particularly eager for this battle."

" Then we won't deny her. Come Toudoh, let us join her."

Rakshata muttered, " Sorry to rain on your parade, Li Xingke, but if you so much as touch a Knightmare after all the time I've spent keeping you alive, I might just kill you myself."

The Chinese swordsman flinched, but sat down in the commander's chair. He knew she was right. His diseases had progressed to such a point that it was hard to lift his sword these days without spitting up what seemed like liters of blood. At least they had a diagnosis. Genetic Hemophilia combined with a blood born cancer and chronic respiratory illness, his time was running very short.

Meanwhile, in the Guren, Kallen narrowed her eyes at the twenty enemies that appeared practically out of nowhere in front of her and Tamaki's squads. She wondered over her radio, " Who are these guys? What types of frames are these?"

The answer came, " We don't know. Rakshata says she's never seen anything like these. Except that golden one that looks like a super Gloucester. She says that it's a new frame that Claudio Darlton had been using as a Terrorist Hunter in Europe. It's called the Helios. "

She looked at the others, " The one with the wolf's head is going to be a problem. Something about it screams ace."

" Agreed, but we still don't know their capabilities. Don't lose your head out there, Kallen."

She glared at the radio feed, " You won't need to worry about that, Minami. Have I ever let the Black Knights down?"

She turned the link off before he could respond. She smirked as she selected the one with the draconic wings to go after first. Then her link beeped again. She looked at it, _Sound only? Secure link? Who the hell is contacting me now? _She switched the link on, " Minami, you'd better have a good reason to keep irritating me."

" Still as fiery as ever, Q-1."

She shouted, " YOU!"

* * *

><p>*&amp;&amp;*&amp;(^&amp;*((%^$&amp;*(%$&amp;(%^&amp;*%^&amp;*%^&amp;*%^&amp;*^*&amp;^&amp;<p>

( Lelouch)

Smiling inside of the Ecliptica, Lelouch commented, " I hope we haven't interrupted something important, Q-1. Otherwise, we might just feel bad."

_" FEEL BAD?"_

Lelouch continued with an arrogant smirk, " How do you know it was I who ordered that?"

_" Because it's fairly obvious! Who the hell else would have a vested interest in revealing who the real Zero was?"_

Lelouch asked again, " I ask again, how do you know that it was I who ordered it? Dear Q-1, you've lost your edge over the years. I bet this is the first time you've been in a Knightmare in ten years isn't it?"

"_How…."_

Fiddling with the King Piece that always hid his secret weapon triggers, Lelouch sounded bored, " I've been called many a thing, Q-1, but stupid is not one of them. Demon, Zero, Emperor of Atrocities, they sound so much better, don't you think?"

_" You bastard…"_

Lelouch admonished, " Now, now, let's watch our language, Q-1. We are civilized people here."

" _You're dead, you son of bitch."_

Lelouch smirked, " Ah, but I'm not dead anymore. Now, let us cut this chatter, and begin the fight shall we?"

He cut the link before she could rant at him. He ordered to his men, " Reveal now."

Behind him, the Beleriand materialized out of thin air. He caught eye of the Zangetsu leaving its hanger, " Andrew, be sure to remove Toudoh for me would you?"

"_Yes Milord!"_

* * *

><p>^%&amp;%$**^&amp;%$^*%^*%^&amp;$%^&amp;*$*^%&amp;*$%^*<p>

(Toudoh in the Zangestu)

" What the hell is that thing?"

A massive airship, easily double the size of the Ikaruga IV, materialized out of seemingly thin air. Xingke came over the radio, " How did we miss that? There's no stealth system in existence that would conceal an airship that large!"

Toudoh answered, " We don't know its capabilities. We have to assume that it is a fully armed ship. Not just a carrier. Get our dreadnoughts in position to hit it from the flanks. Prepare the Hadron Cannons. I don't want to find out what sort of death it can rain down on us."

" Copy that."

Toudoh's warning signal flashed, and an icy blue Knightmare appeared in front of him. _Hmm, this one's different. Like the Lancelot, but somehow different. Nonetheless, we defend Japan! _ Toudoh ordered, " Advance now."

He surged forward, and began a dance of death with the unknown force in front of him.

* * *

><p>*&amp;(^)*&amp;(^)*&amp;(^)*)(^&amp;*(^&amp;*)*(^&amp;*(^&amp;*(^&amp;*(^*<p>

( Britannian Embassy)

" Nunnally Vi Britannia commands you, To War!"

The soldiers knelt before her, bellowing, " Yes Your Majesty!"

In an eerily reminiscent gesture, Nunnally flung her right arm wide as she gave the order. Suzaku flinched, now without his Zero mask, as he remembered Lelouch doing that so many times. Suzaku stood next to Lloyd Asplund, who was insisting that the Lancelot was now back in operation.

Nunnally turned to the two of them, " Suzaku, you said you were right. We are facing Lelouch?"

Suzaku muttered back , " Who else would do something so daring as to air a documentary revealing who was really Zero, and then attack the Chinese Federation while giving a dramatic speech at the same time? He's a multi-tasker that one is."

The purple haired Cecile added, " I bet he's been planning that for months. Lelouch wouldn't move unless he had every possibility covered."

Nunnally smiled, " That's the force we are trying to defeat. One that has already taken every possible scenario into account. The only way we can beat Lelouch is to surprise him. Unfortunately, it generally takes something very drastic to surprise my brother."

Suzaku muttered, " Like the Black Knight betrayal, like the Damocles?"

Nunnally grimaced at the mentioning of the Damocles, " Exactly. Ophelia reported that Schniezel was working on a Damocles II when he died. Perhaps we should finish it and use it?"

Lloyd added, " It wouldn't have FLEIA warheads, because those were one time productions. Although I could certainly dig up Nina's old notes, we would make ourselves look very bad if we deployed it again."

Cecile looked at her notes, " Beating Lelouch this time will take more than just a superweapon or overwhelming forces. According to Nina, they have some very impressive Knightmares in their arsenal."

Lloyd fumed, " Yes! They stole my Lancelot!"

Suzaku frowned at the eccentric scientist, " I think we have more important things to be worrying about than who stole who's Knightmare. Lancelot based or not, they don't have a pilot who can beat me and Kallen if we work together. Except maybe the Phoenix."

Nunnally asked, " The Phoenix of Berlin was that pilot you said Gino blasted. But you also said that he was probably the best pilot you'd ever seen outside of the Rounds and Kallen. How good is he really?"

" Good enough to hold off four Knights of Rounds at once. Not just any rounds either. Me, Gino, Anya, and Monica all at the same time. I'd also heard he toasted Luciano and the Valkyries once. I think the only Rounds that ever defeated him was Waldstein, and that was because of his Geass."

Nunnally asked anew, " Speaking of Gino and Anya, where are they? I sent for them."

Suzaku frowned, " No doubt, Gino is having his fun, and Anya isn't doing anything to stop him…."

Almost on cue, the flamboyant blonde former Knight of Three, now Knight of One under Suzaku's Knight of Zero, walked in with the pink haired now Knight of Three. Gino slung an arm around Suzaku, " Suzaku! Nice to see you again buddy. What's the job this time?"

Nunnally frowned at Gino, " We believe that my brother is back."

It took a minute, but Gino finally asked, " What? But he died! Suzaku here killed him!"

Suzaku's frown deepened under Gino's arm, " So I thought as well. His blood was real enough. The real story for his revival is a long one that we don't have time to explain. Long story short, a bunch of scientists got together in Siberia, performed a bunch of experiments on his body, and brought him back to life."

Anya deadpanned, " So it's our job to send him back to hell?"

Nunnally flinched at Anya's terminology, but answered, " Yes."

Gino smiled, " Excellent. I still need to pay that bastard back for the humiliations he gave me the last time he was alive. I'll fire up the Tristan as soon as the Master of Pudding here finishes the upgrades. Anya's already got the Mordred 2.0, so we will be ready when the fight truly begins."

Suzaku explained, " Toudoh's already got the Black Knights in the field. Lelouch used a worldwide broadcast of a little fail safe that Diethard Reid made in the event he ran out of places to run to stage a massive attack on China. He's already subdued all forces."

Gino nodded, " I saw the broadcast, pretty hard not to. And you're right, it is definitely something Lelouch would do. I saw the images of Tianzi's head on a pike. He's playing for keeps this time around."

Gino was part of the exclusive crowd that was either told, or had figured out, that Lelouch taking over the world was really just a ploy for him to create world peace. Believe it or not, Gino was part of the latter crowd. Of course, he'd had some hints to work on, but nonetheless, the former Knight of Three was somewhat intelligent. " We wouldn't happen to have a camera feed would we?"

Cecile answered, " Yes we do. Hold on a second, Milly Cardemonde has been covering the battle from afar."

The group entered into a war room, and the screen was soon filled with the scenes of battle. The Ikaruga IV was a ship to be reckoned to be with, but the ship it was facing was even larger. Suzaku didn't even want to think about the cannons on it. Lloyd asked, " Oh, those are Rail Cannons aren't they? They'll tear right through the Blaze Luminous."

Gino was watching a fire orange frame tear through the grunt forces of the Black Knights. _Yep, that's the Phoenix. I'd recognize his style any day. What are these frames they're using though? _

Suzaku frowned, " That Wolf one looks a lot like the Lancelot. Fights like it too. Bet the pilot modeled his style after mine,", as the Fenrir executed one of Suzaku's signature Spin Kicks to knock Toudoh's Harkens away.

Anya droned, " The Wolf is just toying with the Zangetsu. Whoever these people are, their technology outstrips our own. "

Both Suzaku and Gino came to the same conclusion as Anya as they watched the Fenrir glide between the Zangetsu's attacks. They narrowed their eyes the Fenrir punched the head of the Zangetsu with the pommel of its energy blade, and then drove the second into the chest of the mech. Toudoh had just enough time to eject before it exploded in a shower of fire and smoke.

Suzaku analyzed the fight, " The Wolf's pilot definitely knows how to improvise. But I think Toudoh should have seen a pommel smash coming and dodged. Come, we must begin to prepare for our own battle."

Nunnally spoke for the first time in several minutes, " I think the Black Knights made a significant tactical error by rushing our enemy. I'm guessing they didn't know it was Lelouch. Otherwise, I think Toudoh and Xingke would have left more troops to defend."

Everyone there hissed at the tactical error. Suzaku commented, " Toudoh must be losing his edge in his old age. The one I knew would never rush off to fight a force that just conquered China in about an hour, and leave only one hundred Knightmares to defend his entire capital country. Or maybe he was gambling that we, Britannia, would cover his ass?"

" If he was, then we would have to give him more credit than before. Still, we only have four hundred frames between both us and the Black Knights. If our enemy is Lelouch, then he will have sent flanking forces to come at us from behind. The Phoenix Legion is eighty thousand strong correct?"

Cecile nodded at Gino. He continued, " Then it is possible that Lelouch would send his best lieutenants after us. Do we have Jeremiah confirmed at the battle?"

Everyone shook their heads. Gino brought his hand into a fist, " Then we must be prepared to battle whatever monstrosity of a Giga Fortress they've sent after us. The Sutherland Sieg was a huge problem in the last war. Heavens only know what sort of monster they have now."

Nunnally looked sad, " Why must my brother bring such a war into our peaceful times?"

* * *

><p>*^*(^(^(&amp;*^*&amp;*^&amp;((%()&amp;*%(&amp;*%)(&amp;(%&amp;(<p>

( Lelouch)

Pulling back from the battle, and avoiding the Guren, Lelouch smirked inside of the Ecliptica. He ordered, " Beleriand, prepare MARC 1 to fire on my command. Coordinates 9XV3E7."

" Yes Milord, firing solution being generated."

His tactical map lit up. Claudio's reinforcements were now entering from the right flank of the Black Knight forces. His pincer was now complete. His radio buzzed, " Firing Solution generated. On your command."

Lelouch turned his KMF to the side so that he could see the large Rail Cannon under the bridge. He ordered, " Fire!"

He smiled as the cannon began to charge. Switching to the enemy's channel, he could hear the chatter on their radio wondering what the hell was happening. He laughed as the cannon fired a large blue projectile towards the Ikaruga IV. The blast flew between all the forces cleanly, and struck roughly midship.

Fire, smoke, and debris flung out in the air at high speeds. The explosion began to rip the Ikaruga into two halves. He smirked as the fires spread to the upper decks, but the ship barely held together. He laughed at the anxious chatter on the enemy radio frequencies. But his mirth was cut off when he was blindsided by a Harken from the Guren, which had finally caught up to him.

He flipped a switch and the twin MVS blades morphed into a single claymore, and twisted the control sticks into a slide. He dropped below the charging crimson KMF, and slashed at the legs. He managed to lop one off. But the Guren was gaining on him nonetheless. _Well, I guess they jacked the speed up on it. _Lelouch thought as he twisted the Eclipitica into a complicated roll to avoid the extended Radiant Wave Surger. _I don't know if the Quantum Leaper can get me out of the Surger if I get caught by it. That's the problem._

He input a trajectory for his Timewave, but the Guren slammed into him before he could activate it. He immediately flipped open the compartment for the Quantum Leaper, and input his trajectory. He slammed his fist down on the activator just in time to leap away from the Radiant Surger. He let out a sigh of relief. That one had been close.

It had never occurred to him before now, but it certainly seemed as though the Leaper was designed specifically to counter the Guren. Since the Guren was such an up close and personal opponent, being so mobile would cause it problems.

_But, _he reminded himself, _Kallen's no ordinary pilot. She'll begin to see patterns shortly, and position herself in a way to allow a counterstrike. Let's see if she can handle this._

He input two trajectories for the Leaper, and allowed Kallen to close. Again, just before the Surger could latch onto him, he leapt away, and immediately fired a burst from the Prism Cannon. He activated the Leaper again, and jumped right into the path of the Guren as it avoided his Prism Cannon. He brought his Morphogenesis blade swinging up. Kallen avoided it at the last second, but Lelouch was pleased, because he now held the Radiant Surger arm in his.

He tossed the severed arm that was the main weapon of the Guren into the sea. Lelouch chuckled as he activated the Chaosweaver to finish the Guren, but he was knocked aside by an enemy. When he recovered, the Guren was already back amongst the enemy fleet. He slammed his fist against the inside of his cockpit, but quickly regained his composure. There would be plenty more times to defeat Kallen before the war ended with his inevitable triumph. His laughter filled the cockpit of the Ecliptica.

* * *

><p>*%(&amp;*^&amp;*&amp;*%(%&amp;^(%&amp;^(%&amp;(^*^**$%&amp;%<p>

( Xingke)

" We need to retreat. We were unprepared for the weapons our enemy would field."

Minami looked at Xingke, " But can we get out with all the damage we've taken?"

" Do we have any type of frame that I could use? Any of them at all?"

Rakshata hummed in the background, " You know that because of your health, you can't pilot a Knightmare anymore. To do so would be to risk killing yourself. Even with the sakuradite implants."

" My own life is one I would willingly give. This war cannot end here! Our foe holds all the cards in his hands now. Until we can come up with a counter attack, we are sitting ducks here! Do we have enough power to fire the flank mounted Hadron cannons?"

Minami answered, " We have just enough power to fire at eighty percent."

" That will be enough. Just cover me! Now, do we have a frame or not?"

Rakshata said, " We have that Shinkiro remake that no one's been able to pilot. Think you can handle it?"

" Anything that is necessary."

* * *

><p>ANs:

Lelouch VS Kallen: Under normal Code Geass circumstances, I wouldn't bother paying for tickets to watch this, because Kallen would kick his ass. But under these circumstances, with Lelouch having a higher spec KMF, and Kallen being extremely rusty, it isn't unlikely he would win. Let's just say that the next time will be considerably more interesting than just a car show for Lelouch's new toys.

Technology edge: Who do you think would have it? Rogue Legions who've been researching and preparing for war for ten years? Or two scientists who never work without outside motivation ( Rakshata and Lloyd)?

The Zero Revelation: Lelouch really didn't care about Suzaku being Zero or any of that, though he is still pissed about the Black Knight betrayal. So he had the broadcast aired to cover for his invasion of China. Since Line Omega cuts off all broadcasts besides what's being broadcast on it, no one would have any news of the attack until after Lelouch finished the broadcast. Episode 2 of R2 is what that's based on.

Claudio: Is not an OC. He, along with his four other adopted brothers, made up the Glaston Knights, which were Cornelia and Guilford's command squad. Claudio was the only one who survived the Rebellions. His membership of a Rogue Legion surprised Lelouch, because that meant he was going against not just his Princess, but also Guilford, and any inkling of revenge for his father and brothers he might have had.

Bauglir: Lelouch's call sign is the Sindar name for Morgoth ( Which means " Great Enemy of the World") in the Silmarillion.

Black Knights: Not all of them will die. In fact, some of them will be coerced to join Lelouch. However, just ahead of time, Kallen will not be one of them.

C.C : Everyone's favorite witch has been conspicuously absent since the start of this fic. That will be rectified in a way you may not expect shortly.


	4. Chapter4 Recruiting Thy Enemy's Best Man

Chapter 3 Recruiting the Enemy

A/N: If anyone has anything they want to take up with me about this fanfiction, feel free to PM me. Reviews are good too.

* * *

><p>Lelouch chuckled faintly in the Ecliptica as he watched the heavily damaged Ikaruga begin to steadily pull back. But not before he noticed it was charging its Hadron Cannons. He opened his radio, " All forces, activate shields now! Beleriand, ready a MARC shot at the Ikaruga IV's flank cannon!"<p>

" Yes, your highness!"

Lelouch radioed Andrew, " Andrew, do you remember where Toudoh ejected to?"

" Yes."

Lelouch ordered, " After the Ikaruga fires its cannons, retrieve him. I've purposefully had Claudio fighting in that sector to make sure they wouldn't be able to retrieve him."

" Aye, Your Majesty."

Now it was a waiting game. He anticipated that the Black Knights would retreat, and then make a counter attack based off of whether he pursued them or not. Since he wasn't going to pursue them, then they would be at a disadvantage. Jeremiah radioed his own status report, " We are roughly thirty minutes from Tokyo Settlement. Energy levels still at optimal levels."

Lelouch watched as the Hadron Cannons fired at his ships, only to be negated by their shielding, " Await my command."

That's when he noticed a lone Knightmare standing in the wake of the retreating forces. He narrowed his eyes. _So they remade the Shinkiro. Rakshata did say she was rather fond of that frame. Who's the pilot?_

Wilhelm reported, " Enemy frame approaching. I'll take him."

Lelouch ordered, " No, don't engage. Let it engage us. The Black Knights are incapacitated for now. Order our own forces to pull back."

" But your majesty…"

Lelouch frowned, " It's all according to plan. If we keep this up, the only units fighting will be the Custom generation frames. All of our others need resupply. Plus, I am rightly tired. We need to see the enemy's reaction."

" Very well."

Andrew reported, " I've got the capsule. Enemy still within."

" Good, bring him to the Beleriand."

* * *

><p>&amp;*^^&amp;*((^&amp;%^&amp;$&amp;^%&amp;$*(^*^*^*^7<p>

( Britannia Forces …Avalon 2)

" Why did they retreat?"

Suzaku answered, " Gino, we cannot fathom the tactical mind of Lelouch. No doubt he's setting up some sort of flanking maneuver that will involve his men sweeping them after they've retreated. The Black Knights are screwed."

Nunnally nodded, " Brother's basic tactics have torn them to pieces. Toudoh and Xingke should have known better than to engage so hastily. Now it is up to us to bail them. Deploy teams one through twelve. Have them advance at a steady speed."

" Yes, Your Majesty."

Nunnally ordered to her other forces, " The enemy will likely be advancing along the flanks of the retreating Black Knight forces. Intercept and run interference for them. Inform me when you make contact."

Gino radioed, " Yes Your Majesty."

Suzaku looked at the tactical map, " That is a likely guess of what Lelouch is doing. He wouldn't suddenly retreat unless he had something. I bet he's trying to sneak forces behind the Black Knights and take Tokyo while they were engaging him over the ocean."

A beep went off, and Gino radioed in, " We're under attack! It's Jeremiah!"

Nunnally radioed, " Pull back, but don't let him fulfill his mission. We will get reinforcements to you as quickly as possible."

" Empress, I think me and Anya can handle him. But…"

Nunnally responded, " That's an order, Gino. We don't know what his new Giga Fortress is capable of, therefore, we must take a strategy of prudence and caution."

Gino angrily sighed, but pulled his squads back. Jeremiah Gottwald's forces appeared on the tactical map. Suzaku turned to Sayoko, " I'm trusting Nunnally to your capable hands. I must go myself now."

The kunoichi maid nodded. Nunnally smiled at Suzaku, " Do come back in one piece, Kururugi Suzaku. Knight of Zero."

Suzaku knelt, " As her majesty wills, so shall it be done."

Suzaku left with Lloyd, who immediately began running through last minute updates on the new Lancelot Reborn, " Oh you're going to love it, Suzaku. Faster, more maneuverable, special blades on the feet, new energy wings…"

" Spare me Lloyd, I'll figure them out when I get in. I trust you haven't changed the control scheme any?"

Lloyd tittered, " Of course not!"

" Good. I only wish I could see Lelouch's face when Lancelot takes the field against him again."

* * *

><p>546#$%&amp;%*&amp;*&amp;*&amp;(&amp;(^&amp;*%^&amp;(^&amp;*%^&amp;<p>

( Ikaruga)

" I have no idea who that enemy pilot was, but he's got some good hands."

Tamaki jeered, " That didn't sound bad at all, Kallen."

" You know what I'm talking about!"

Xingke broke them off, " Quiet children. We have more pressing matters to deal with. We weren't able to recover Toudoh. That's…"

Half the Black Knight Command team screamed. Kallen shouted, " First my wedding, and now TOUDOH!"

Xingke sighed, " How the hell did Lelouch ever deal with these people?"

An urgent message appeared from the Britannian Forces, " What is it?"

Empress Nunnally appeared, " We've engaged Rogue Legion forces roughly thirty minutes from Tokyo. Requesting reinforcements. Send units from your rear guard."

Kallen asked, " Why the rear guard?"

Nunnally smiled, " Because it will be exactly according to the enemy's plan if you all pull back to engage his divergent forces. Leave that to me and Suzaku. You simply hold the front lines."

With that, she hung the link up. Kallen muttered, " That girl's too much like her brother these days."

Tamaki added, " Maybe it's her form of morning sickness?"

" What would you know about…"

" Stop arguing you fools. We have a war to fight,", Xingke ordered.

Minami handed the status reports to Xingke, " We'll be able to redeploy in an hour. But the Ikaruga IV is out of commission for a week or so until we can get it repaired."

Kallen yelled at the purple haired messenger, " At that rate, we'll all be dead! They've got pilots out there that are using Knightmares that made the Guren look like a freaking Glasgow. Any idea on what Rakshata will be getting us to try and level the field?"

Tamaki frowned, " Man, it's like fighting in the resistance group all over again. Just without Zero. What?" Tamaki scowled at the glares he got from his comrades, " It's the damn truth. Lelouch, Geass or not, was a better tactician than Xingke and Toudoh together. At least we won back then. Have we even won a battle since we ditched Zero?"

The entire bridge glared at him, but seeing as to the hothead had again spoken the truth, they refrained from comment. Tamaki muttered, " Still a sore topic for you guys? It's the truth."

Xingke tried to regain command of his errant bridge, " Listen, now isn't the time for such debates. Our enemies have come to be identified as the Rogue Legions of Britannia. As we know them, they are fanatically loyal soldiers to the former Demon Emperor Lelouch…."

Kallen interjected, " Who happens to be the enemy commander. What? Don't look at me like that, the bastard had the nerve to contact me right before the battle."

Xingke ignored the evil looks the entire bridge was now sending at Kallen, " Which only goes to serve the fact that we now have to defeat the only enemy we could never defeat!"

" Some might argue we never defeated Britannia either."

Right as Xingke was beginning to lose his temper, he got a message from the Britannian forces. Gino Weinberg's face appeared on the screen, " This is the Knight of One reporting in. You guys got big time enemy flanking forces going around you, and you're just sitting there."

The Japanese members all shouted, " WHAT?"

Minami switched on the tactical display, " But we aren't showing any forces at all…."

Gino replied, " Is it not a standard tactic of a rebellion to not deploy IFF?"

The radar coordinators for the Ikaruga all sighed in anger. Only once had any of them faced such a difficult foe. And he was supposed to be dead. A Black Knight company commander radioed in, " We're getting torn to pieces out here! Command, what's going on?"

Xingke answered, " We don't have any answers right now. The enemy has a huge technological advantage, they have better tactics, and they have at least three better aces than us. Have we been outmaneuvered?"

The commander looked up, screamed and his screen went blank. Xingke ordered, " Get me some type of intelligence on what's going on out there!"

* * *

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( Lelouch)

" Have you finished with the prisoner, Andrew?"

Andrew ran a hand through his long, orange hair, " Of course! He's awaiting your pleasure, Milord."

" Excellent. Bring us some Vodka. Me and Toudoh have much to discuss."

Lelouch entered the interrogation room, and sat down on the reclining chair. He crossed his legs like he had on the Britannian throne, and declared, " Welcome to my world, Kyoshiro Toudoh."

Toudoh looked up, " So it is you, Demon. How did you live?"

Lelouch smirked, " Death dies hard. My sins so many that Satan threw me out of Hell. "

" Cut the dramatics Demon, and kill me now."

Lelouch laughed, " Ah Toudoh, as I once told you, you can serve me so much better alive than dead."

" After all this time, do you honestly think I could serve you with a clean conscious?"

Lelouch chuckled in an infuriating way, " Bonds of loyalty go far, Toudoh. But…you wouldn't know much about that now would you? The man who traded the best leader he ever had for an irrational fear and a hunk of land he had almost already won."

Lelouch knew he had struck a nerve by attacking Toudoh's loyalty, which he knew he worried more about than his own life. Toudoh closed his eyes, " How dare you, of all people, question MY loyalty?"

Lelouch countered, " I dare, because I am Lelouch Vi Britannia, the 99th Emperor of Britannia, Lord Zero, and once King of this World. I know full well that if you don't dare to do something, then it will never happen. I'm not idealistic to the point of stupidity like Suzaku used to be. As you recall, I was not the one who betrayed, rather the one who was betrayed. Vengeance is a powerful mistress."

" Are you doing this all for revenge?"

Lelouch laughed, " At first, yes. But now…now I want to rule the world again. Last time, I was so upset about how I thought Nunnally had died, I didn't care about ruling the world. I just wanted to die, and so I did. But the Collective Conscious saw fit to give me another chance. It cleared my mind. And now I realize that my original reasoning was flawed."

" Is this really just a game to you?"

Lelouch stood up, " I am insulted that you would ask that question of me. It has not, nor will ever, be just a game for me. Now, I realized I made a plethora of mistakes with the Black Knights, but I never expected them to grow so rusty in ten years. Have you really not won a single battle since you all tossed me out?"

Toudoh grimaced, " No we haven't. It's like something's missing. Xingke's a great commander, no offense, and he's got most of your charisma, but he's just missing something. And I realized long ago that I'm a soldier, not a general. I follow orders."

Lelouch smiled, " You can do anything on the battlefield, but when it comes to the higher up decisions, they just aren't your game. Lethal on the battlefield, worthless at the command desk."

" Do you intend to insult me this entire time, Vi Britannia?"

Lelouch continued, " Just part of the game, Toudoh. You said Xingke was missing something, and the answer to that is time. Even with the enhanced treatments he's been receiving over the years, there always remains the possibility that he might drop dead where he's standing at any given moment. How can soldiers have faith in such a leader?"

Toudoh frowned, " I admit, even I have doubts as to Xingke's vitality often. Whatever his disease is, it has gotten to the point that he can't pilot Shen Hu anymore. Or any other Knightmare for that matter. He can hardly lift his sword to buckle it around his waist. I bet he was the idiot in the Shinkiro II trying to cover for everyone."

_Hmm, that's an interesting tidbit that Toudoh just let slip. I would have figured that Rakshata and Lloyd would have figured something out for him by now. What could this insidious disease be? Oh well, one less enemy to worry about. _Lelouch thought.

Continuing his conversation, " I was wondering who was using the Shinkiro. That Knightmare requires a certain touch to use. I seriously doubt that Xingke would have been able to use it efficiently even back in his prime."

" Rakshata did say she made that Knightmare specifically for Zero, so I guess you would know its capabilities better than anyone."

Lelouch smirked arrogantly, " Yes, I would now wouldn't I? Either way, we are getting off the point here."

" Yes, how long will it take for me to finally anger you enough to kill me."

Lelouch laughed at his former teacher/second in command, " That'll be awhile, Toudoh. I, on the other hand, have a multitude of cards to play. You have two options, Toudoh. You can join me, or I can Geass you into joining me. Either way, death is not in your near future. At least, not by my hands."

" Geassing me is just as much as killing me! "

Lelouch chuckled faintly, " Not really. I can use my Geass to set conditions and terms for it to activate. I can order you to completely obey me, but still allow you to have your will and thought."

Lelouch caught a brief glance of fear in the normally fearless eyes of Kyoshiro Toudoh before the man responded, " Go ahead and use your Geass. Rakshata and Lloyd already found a way to counteract it that doesn't involve that Geass Canceller."

Lelouch laughed loudly, " I'm calling that bluff. My scientists already told me about that, and I was instantly skeptical. You've just proven me right. The look in your eye just before you bluffed told me all I needed to know. I bet Nunnally and Kaguya were just trying to scare any remaining Geass users out with that announcement."

Toudoh flinched. Lelouch continued, " Yes, I am very aware of my sister's hatred for the Geass. After all, that was her supposed justification for the use of Damocles. I remember saying, ' Ruling through fear and use of a weapon…' then she countered, ' How is that so different from the Geass? Robbing people of their wills and hopes?'"

" I see. Then she is hypocritical then. I have it on high authority that her tactical advisor, a woman named Lucretia, is a Geass user. Though hers is much different than yours."

Lelouch vaguely remembered something in Marlowe's files, " Yes, something about being able to create a flawless map of an area or something like that. It would explain why Britannian forces were able to intercept my flanking forces when I made sure that the Black Knights would be well distracted by me."

" We are getting distracted here."

Lelouch coughed, " Ah yes, back on topic. Now, I am aware that you have a family now, Toudoh? Including a Kenshin Toudoh who's…."

" Yes, I'm rather aware that my son is a loyal follower of the Legend of Lelouch, as it is called in Japan. It…makes things awkward between him and Chiba."

Remembering the female Holy Sword, Lelouch was reminded that she was one of the first, if not the first, Black Knight to truly have doubts in his abilities as Zero. She never got over him abandoning the Black Knights during the First Rebellion, and some of his not so legitimate actions in the Second only worsened her. Of course, that all culminated in the Black Betrayal.

Continuing where he left off, " Wouldn't that be a shame if son ended up fighting father?"

" You would know all about that wouldn't you? You killed your father."

Lelouch frowned, " My father needed killing. I trust I don't have to explain all of THAT to you?"

" No, you do not. Schniezel, unhelpful as he was, did explain something of the whole Ragnarok ordeal."

" I never understood how the Black Knights could trade me for Schniezel. After all, Schniezel was so much more of a manipulator than I am. Nonetheless, I shall have to give you an ultimatum. If you join me, I will spare your family, sans Chiba if she attacks me, which she probably will. So you'd better talk some sense into her. But if you don't, I'll be sure to Geass you into killing them yourself. Minus Kenshin of course,", Lelouch dictated with an evil smile.

" That's not much of a choice you are giving me."

Lelouch sat back down, " That's the point, Toudoh. Either way, you will live, and you will serve me. You just get to choose how you serve me. That's how the world works isn't it?"

" Very well. I shall join this unholy crusade. But you must hold your end of the bargain."

Lelouch laughed, " I know how to hold up a deal. Unlike you. Now, there is the matter of your former comrades, the Black Knights. I can arrange a Custom Knightmare made for you, but it will be awhile. For the next few turns, I shall have to lead from the bridge. Thus, I will let you use the Ecliptica, the Knightmare I used on Kallen earlier."

" That was you!"

Chuckling, Lelouch explained, " The Ecliptica is pretty cutting edge even for the Blizzard Group. Just warning you, I need to unlock it for you myself though. Marlowe designed the locking mechanism to make me use my Geass on it. Oh, and Toudoh?"

" What?"

" No more betrayals. I think you've had enough to last a lifetime. My men are watching. They're everywhere,", Lelouch said as he left the room and gave the order to uncuff the Japanese pilot.

* * *

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( Suzaku)

Sitting in the cockpit of the new Lancelot Reborn, Suzaku deftly made his way towards the frontlines. The enemy attacks had slackened considerably, but that didn't fool the Knight of Zero. If anything, that only made him suspect that Lelouch was up to something more. While the Damocles battle hadn't exactly been a clinic of Lelouch's best strategies, Suzaku had been on the receiving end of said strategies more times than he could count. He knew that such a lull would only conceal his enemy more.

He switched his radio on, " This is Lancelot Reborn to Ikaruga IV, I am approaching your starboard side. Gino and Anya will get here when the opportunity arises, but they are currently dealing with Jeremiah Gottwald's new Giga Fortress, code named Surtur."

Xingke radioed back, " We'll take any reinforcements we can get. It appears that our enemy is well versed in our weaknesses. With Toudoh presumed KIA, we're down to one Ace too. We can't even use her because the Guren's inoperable."

_That pilot of the black Knightmare was good. I don't know what kind of technology he was using to blip around like that, but he had to have quick reflexes in order to dodge that Wave Surger so many times. _thought Suzaku. The battle between the unknown Knightmare and the Guren made Suzaku wonder if the Lancelot, so long the pinnacle of Britannian military technology, could measure up. But unlike Kallen, Suzaku had been basically living in a Knightmare the last ten years, in an effort to make sure his real identity as Zero stayed a secret. In such, he had sparred many of the best pilots in the world besides himself.

However, he knew in his heart, that this was going to be the most interesting war of his life. More interesting than the internal one he fought for years after he killed his father. More interesting than trying to defeat Zero. More interesting than taking over the world with Lelouch. More interesting than finally getting his revenge and killing Lelouch. More interesting than the war with himself as he fell in love with Nunnally. No, this battle was going to be the one that wrote his legacy. Win here, and he would never die. Lose, and he would be wishing for the death he had faked all those years ago.

Suzaku shouted over the Black Knight Channel, " All forces rally to the Lancelot! We can still win this thing!"

A Black Knight commander shouted, " Everyone to the Lancelot! We can hold the enemy here!"

Suzaku gave a shout in his Knightmare as he led the charge of Black Knight forces. Swarms of lower grade black knightmares flew beneath him. He felt the same euphoria he used to feel as a warrior.

* * *

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( Toudoh)

_I can' believe I'm fighting alongside of Lelouch again. Déjà vu all over again right? But he always knew how to provide his subjects with the best toys. This thing is amazing. No wonder he was driving circles around Kallen. The baby born yesterday could beat me on autopilot with this bastard. _Toudoh thought as he messed with the controls to the Ecliptica. The 99th Emperor hadn't lied when he said this was cutting edge, even if the style wasn't suited to his own.

Lelouch explained the systems, " The main weapon is called the Prism Cannon. Besides it, the only weapon this thing has are the two Morphogenesis Blades. The Prism Cannon controls Chaosweaver and Timewave Zero. Both are high powered lasers in a sense. However, the best asset it has, is the Artificial Sun Projection. Use it to project up to three mirage images of yourself at the enemy. The other is the Quantum Leaper, which allows short range, instantaneous teleportation."

" Interesting. Much better than the Zangetsu. What kind of limitations should I be aware of?"

" I'm not sure if the Quantum Leaper can get you out of something like the Radiant Wave Surger. Play it safe when faced with a weapon like that. Plus, this Knightmare has pretty much no armor. The shields are its only defense. You can use the five keyboards to pinpoint areas you want the shields to focus."

_Sounds like the Shinkiro, and Xingke made that sound like hell on earth. Hope the shields are good without specific focus._ Toudoh asked, " Who's deploying with me?"

" Andrew and Claudio will be joining you. Wilhelm is already in the field."

Recognizing a name, he asked, " Claudio, as in, Claudio Darlton?"

" Yeah, don't ask right now. Anyway, the Black Knights should be about to begin their counterattack on me here in about five minutes. Use that time to get used to the controls. I found them to be extremely responsive. Responsive to the key that I crashed into the air traffic control tower at my base when I tried to pull a turn."

Almost immediately after Lelouch told him about it, Toudoh found himself slamming up against the walls in the hangar. Lelouch laughed over the radio, " Told you it was responsive. It isn't like the Zangetsu. There's pretty much no resistance in the controls. Took me a week or two to get used to it, but then again, I'm not the greatest KMF pilot out there."

" Isn't that the reason you recruited me the first time?"

Alarms sounded. Lelouch ordered, " All forces redeploy. Inbound forces. Adopt Pattern Delta to intercept."

Toudoh pressed the controls forward, already getting the hang of the temperamental mech. This was going to be an interesting fight.

* * *

><p>*()**&amp;&amp;(&amp;^^*()(&amp;%^*()*&amp;^%%%*(*^&amp;()&amp;%*)^^()(&amp;^()*&amp;()*&amp;()*&amp;^^*((<p>

(Avalon 2)

" Lloyd, have you finished overlooking that data we sent you?"

The Master of Pudding looked up from his computer, " Yes. Lovely aren't they?,", he turned the monitor towards Gino's video link. The profile on top was the one for the Phoenix.

"**Knightmare: Phoenix**

**Class: Custom/Heavy support/Grunt Slayer**

**Armaments**

**Left Arm: Class Three Nova Cannon.**

**Right arm: Class Five Hellfury Cannon, 1x Radiation Sword.**

**Chest: Anti-Knightmare Gefjun Disperser Field projector.**

**Armor: Class Four Ablative Armor.**

**Shielding: Force Shield. 4x Projectors**

**Wings: Promethium laced sakuradite wings plus energy"**

Gino frowned, " Not to be a downer or anything, but we don't need to be briefed on how amazing the enemy technology is, Lloyd. What we need, is a countermeasure."

"Which I am working on. Suzaku is sending me all these lovely statistics of the Lancelot Reborn that I haven't…"

Gino shouted, " Fuck the Lancelot Reborn! We need an effective countermeasure to their weapons, or we're all going to get killed! I don't care if the Lancelot is God, if it's the only Knightmare we've got that can stand against these guys, then we will lose! That means dead! Do I have to spell it out for you? D-E-A-D! No pudding, no nothing! If you keep focusing the Lancelot so much, I'll be cutting your damn budget by 300%."

That got Lloyd's attention, " We don't even have that much!"

" You'll have even less if I get killed out here! I can guarantee Hell has a lot less pudding than the empty fridge on the second floor of Avalon 2."

Lloyd placed his hands on his head as Gino terminated the link. Boy that kid had gotten an _attitude_ since the last war. Only a few people could infuriate the eccentric scientist, but Gino was at the top of the list, second only to Cecile's cooking.

Lloyd was thrown from his chair as the Avalon was rocked by a blast. Alarms went off. Cecile flipped a second computer on, and observed the tactical map. Lloyd muttered, " Looks like our enemy flanked us. Figures the Great Daemon King would be able to fluster our troops."

Cecile sighed, " I can't tell if you're frustrated or reverent of our enemy."

Lloyd opened the file on the specs for the Knightmare he had developed to face off against the enemy, " The Angel of Babylon. Better than Lancelot, but…."

Cecile palmed her face, " But you went way overboard with the specs, so I don't even know if Suzaku can pilot it."

" Hehehe, yeah.I really need to work on compatibility don't I?"

Cecile ran a hand through her purple hair, " The enemy has at least three pilots in Knightmares that make the old Lancelots look like first generation. They clearly don't have the same problems with compatibility that we do. Then again, the Phoenix is one of the best pilots in the world, Gottwald is unique with his Nerve Linking, and whoever was in that black one was crazy. I don't think even Suzaku's ever let the Guren's Wave Surger get that close and still avoided it."

Lloyd chuckled, " I would love to get my hands on that lovely Ecliptica. Unfortunately, Nina doesn't know much about it. Last contact said she was left out of the planning. All she knows about is that Quantum Leaper. What a funny machine it is too. I've never thought about trying to use Sakuradite to bend the very laws of physics."

Meanwhile, Nunnally was directing the forces of Britannia in response to the Stormcrow's attack. Her adviser shouted, " Empress! The enemy has successfully flanked the Black Knights and is coming at us! They are an estimated five hundred meters and closing fast!"

Nunnally ordered, " Relay pattern sigma to our remaining forces. Let them in. This enemy is just following orders. He won't be much."

" Milady, our forces are already stretched to the max! We have to retreat!"

Nunnally shouted, " NO! That's just what Brother wants us to do! He wants us to pull back so that his forces can have their way with the rear of the Black Knights! Whatever it's worth, he's concentrating more on the Black Knights than us. We must take advantage!"

Sayoko stood next to Nunnally, stoic, but slightly unnerved at how similar Nunnally was acting to the way Lelouch had acted during the Damocles Battle. He had said almost the exact same thing when Kallen and the Black Knights had slammed his center and Cecile had suggested pulling Suzaku back.

The tactical display showed dozens of LOST signals, but even more for the enemy than the Britannian forces. The hierarchy of base forces had been established. Without their super Knightmares to lead them, the grunt forces of the Rogue Legions weren't much. Strong leadership, weak center. Not that different from the Britannian forces during the Black Rebellions.

Suzaku's link popped up, " Empress! The Black Knights have sustained heavy casualties. Requesting medical EVAC for the wounded."

Nunnally explained, " If we can get forces through to them, then we will provide transportation for the wounded. Right now, we're fighting the enemy secondary forces."

" Secondary forces? Lelouch isn't holding back is he?"

Nunnally frowned, " No, he isn't Suzaku. That's why he must be destroyed before word of who this really is reaches the Mainland. I trust you know about the unrest?"

" Yes, the unrest is caused by overwhelming loyalty to Lelouch amongst the commoners and military members. I've done the best I could to weed out the dissenters, but I can guarantee that many seeped through the cracks. I'm a little concerned about the guy in the Golden Knightmare. I know for a fact that Knightmare is called Helios, and that it's pilot is Claudio Darlton. But there's no way Claudio would join Lelouch!"

Nunnally closed her violet eyes, " No, it must have been stolen. My brother wouldn't risk using his Geass on someone after he found out about the bluff we made with Rakshata and Lloyd. Unless he's already figured out that it was a bluff. But to do so would mean that he's found someone to try it on."

Suzaku radioed, " The Black Knights have been reporting Toudoh-sensei as KIA. That would mean…"

Xingke opened the link, " That would mean that he captured Toudoh and used his leverage to force Toudoh into submission. Knowing the man well, he wouldn't turn on us unless Geassed or someone threatened his honor is some way. That would also extend to his family, and it isn't exactly lost upon us that his eldest son is a Rogue Legionnaire."

Nunnally ordered, " Then radio this information to everyone in the fleets. Kyoshiro Toudoh is to be killed on sight. He is a traitor to our cause."

Suzaku protested, " Nunnally! You can't order that kind of thing! He's not even Britannian affiliated! You're really starting to sound like Lelouch!"

She replied, " It cannot be helped, Suzaku. I would rather Toudoh died with honor on the battlefield, even if it is for the wrong side, than for Lelouch's men to assassinate him. Even now, I suspect that some of your Black Knights aren't so loyal as you might think. That includes higher up members."

Xingke flinched, " What are you implying, Empress Nunnally?"

" The Black Knights are no strangers to treachery, having turned on and cast aside their leadership more than once. It would not surprise me if that were to happen again."

Xingke growled, and turned his link off. Suzaku commented, " Insulting his men's loyalty is not a good way to help these people, Nunnally. I know they used to be our enemies, and I know they threw Lelouch out despite all he did for them, but they are still our only allies in this fight."

Sayoko thought _ So Lelouch isn't the only person who was upset with what the Black Knights did. Even I was quite shocked when I heard how they turned on Master Lelouch. But, does Nunnally still hold a grudge against them for it? If so, why? Could it be that she blames them for all that's happening? Could she be blaming them for her brother committing assisted suicide and then coming back with a vengeance? _

* * *

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( Black Knights)

Most of the Black Knights hadn't ever seen Li Xingke actually angry before, but for those who had, they knew well to stay out of his way. Inside of the War room, he was spouting angrily, " How dare SHE of all people, question our loyalty and ethic?"

Kallen frowned heavily, " If we're talking about Nunnally, then I agree with Xingke this time. How can she question our loyalty when she was the one who used Damocles in an effort to take over the world?"

Minami added, " Agreed one hundred percent. We had valid reasons to throw out Zero."

The stranger in the corner who claimed to be a returning warrior from the Black Rebellions, spoke up, " You guys still defend yourselves staunchly don't you?"

Xingke glared at the man, " Says the man who left the Black Knights behind only to come back now."

" What can I say? I had a life to live too. This little war just gets in the way of that significantly. I can't be allowing anyone to interrupt the peace too much."

Minami asked, " Who are you anyway? I don't remember someone like you being in the Black Knights."

" Oh I was in the Black Knights. I just served in a far different station than now. But if there is anyone who can defeat our enemy, it is I. But I will not say who I am. Not just yet anyway."

This only infuriated the Black Knights in a way that Kallen was familiar with. She thought she saw a small glint of amber eyes under the shawl that was wrapped around the stranger's head.

" Now, if we can get around old grievances, I think I can help you level the playing field. First, you will need to purge the Black Knight ranks. There are too many here that are still loyal to Lelouch/Zero. And not just grunt ranks either. Some higher ups are still loyal."

Xingke hissed, " That's impossible. The Grunts, I can understand. But if you are a high ranking member, then that's the equivalent of being a Rogue Legionnaire."

Everyone in the war room flinched, " Face it people. If you're still loyal to a guy who's dead, then that's tantamount to being a Legionnaire. Mourning him if you were close to him like Kallen is one thing, but clinging to his ideals in the hopes that he somehow lived, is being a Legionnaire."

Xingke decided to retake command of his bridge, " Black Knights, we've been asked by Empress Nunnally to declare Toudoh to be a traitor and order his death on sight. Now, I must ask…."

He was interrupted by Kallen yelling, " Toudoh would never betray us!"

The stranger quipped, " I'm sure Zero thought you all would never betray him either, but look how that turned out."

The entire bridge glared at the stranger. Rakshata decided to make her presence known, " Continuing our Zero discussion, why don't we go ahead and declare Toudoh dead? That way, if he comes back, we could just denounce him. At this point, I seriously doubt Toudoh would come back to us."

Kallen looked dour, " But that only worked with Zero because he wore a mask. Only the highest Black Knight members ever knew that Zero was really Lelouch Vi Britannia. However, almost everyone in Japan, and a lot of people in Britannia, knows the name and face of Kyoshiro Toudoh. And what are we going to tell Chiba?"

The stranger laughed, " We don't. For all we know, the enemy has Toudoh on their side likely because of threats against the, or promises of the safety of his family. After all, it would be a huge dent to his honor for him to allow something to happen to them, even though his eldest is a Legionnaire in his own right. Even at eight years old."

Kallen's eyes were wide, " I-I didn't know Toudoh's son was a Legionnaire. If…If the son of Kyoshiro Toudoh, one of Japan's greatest heroes, can be a Legionnaire, then Nunnally's fears truly are well founded."

"Then purge your ranks. But do it after this battle. Right now, you need all the men you can get. Rakshata, have you finished repairing the Guren?"

Rakshata frowned at the stranger, " Of course not. We're working on a new Surger, but with the previous one at the bottom of the sea, we are having to work with the blue prints from Guren Flight Enabled rather than SEITEN, since no changes were made with Hououken. Lloyd still angers me that he never turned those blueprints over."

" You mean you're having to rebuild the Wave surger with plans from two generations ago?"

Rakshata looked at Kallen, " It's all I've got. Like I said, Asplund wouldn't give me his blueprints."

Unnoticed by anyone except Kallen, the stranger left the room. Kallen followed the stranger until it reached a room secluded on the side. She entered the room, declaring, " Why don't you show yourself, C.C?"

The stranger chuckled slightly, unraveling the shawl around her green hair, " Because it would be extremely impractical to have done so in front of Xingke."

" Can you really turn the tides against Lelouch?"

C.C smiled at Kallen, " Of course I can. I'm immortal. I don't die. Not that I like to flaunt that by running in front of swarms of gun fire. Plus, by dying, Lelouch has defaulted his contract with me. Right now, he's basically using Geass care-free."

" B-b-But Rakshata and Lloyd developed…"

C.C frowned at Kallen, " Don't tell me you believed that fake story. That's the biggest bluff I've seen since Lelouch had to act like he wasn't awakened as Zero during the second Rebellion. This is Lelouch we're talking about. He's got plenty of faults, but his intelligence is not one of them. By the way, you wouldn't happen to have any pizza would you?"

Kallen was flustered, " W-W-What? Bluff? Pizza? We might have some, but I'm not sure. What do you mean care-free?"

" Lelouch currently has the most powerful Geass in the world. If he's still using it like a parlor trick, it might develop further. While extremely unheard of, and unlikely, it might develop into a Code, especially if he were exposed to the right areas."

Kallen muttered, " C-C-Code? That's what makes you immortal right? Then that gives us even more motivation to kill him."

" I don't know. Living in a world ruled by Lelouch wouldn't be so bad would it?"

Kallen sighed, " That's a complete contradiction of your previous statements."

" Is it?"

Kallen glared, " Listen, who's side are you on? Do you want to help us or what?"

" I'm not here to help you. I'm here to get to Lelouch so I can kill him for defaulting our contract. Now, if you want to enter into a contract to help me do so, then that's at your own discretion."

Kallen was taken aback, " Obtain…Geass?"

" It may be the only way that you can defeat him. You know he was the one in that Knightmare that defeated you earlier right?"

Kallen's mouth dropped, " I-Impossible! Lelouch is hopeless in a Knightmare! How would he be able to defeat ME? I was his Ace for a reason!"

" You still call yourself his ace? How laughable. He's had biotic enhancements similar to the ones given to Jeremiah Gottwald after Narita. They've increased his reflexes significantly."

Kallen was still denying it, " I won't believe that Lelouch was the one who defeated me until I see it. And I will NOT be taking Geass unless it is an absolute last resort. I've begun to see it as an evil in this world as much as Nunnally."

Kallen stormed out of the room. After she left, C.C pressed her hand to her ear, " It went exactly as you planned, Lelouch."

"_Q-1 is still as easy to predict as ever. She will take Geass eventually, and she will become the pariah of our enemy. It will make defeating her ever so much easier when everyone on the enemy side hates her, but her pride won't let her join us."_

C.C replied, " Now you'd better have some pizza the next time we meet. I'm playing both sides for you, you'd better repay me."

"_You sound like a mercenary, witch. Either way, continue to play both Nunnally and Xingke for me. Do either of them suspect who you are?"_

" No, but I planned on revealing myself to Nunnally. Maybe if the situation were dire enough, she would take Geass herself. She would look the complete hypocrite then."

"_Let's hope I can end this before it gets to that point."_

" Last time you said that, Shirley got killed, the Black Knights betrayed you….."

"_Dammit witch, you love making me upset don't you? Do you honestly have to make it sound like all of those things were solely my fault?"_

_ "_Well, a lot of them were."

Inside of his command room, Lelouch cursed, getting his men's attentions.

* * *

><p>%$^&amp;#%^&amp;^&amp;#%^&amp;#%&amp;%&amp;$%^$%^$<p>

( Lelouch)

Marlowe hissed at him, " Sire, is it really a good idea to allow our newest warrior out in the Ecliptica?"

Lelouch glared at the scientist, " I can control Toudoh more effectively if I have his full attention. He remembers that back when I was Zero, I had a habit of getting a hold of some very interesting technology. Honorable or not, there is still bitterness in the old general's soul about being on the loser's side as well."

Marlowe chuckled, " You're staking a lot on the dissent of the Black Knights being sore losers."

" Face it Marlowe, even the best ones are upset by it. I saw it with Toudoh when I casually mentioned that the Black Knights still haven't won a single battle without me directing them. It's been ten years, and still no go. I'm the best and only leader the Black Knights have ever had, and no matter how much they try to bury that in the past, they simply can't."

Marlowe noted dully, " And boy have they tried. It's almost impossible to find records of your earlier victories, like Shinjuku and Narita these days. Even harder to find records of the Chinese intervention and the Second Battle of Tokyo."

" They cannot move forward, because they refuse to acknowledge the past. The Black Knights don't know it, but they are in essence, the Twelfth Legion. So many lower level Black Knights now know the Legend of Lelouch. They know that those who command them betrayed their great leader. And so, they will fall apart with the next stage of my plan. Is that submarine ready for me?"

Marlowe nodded, " Yes. I'm guessing you will soon announce yourself?"

" Yes. My commands are left for you to give. I will return."

* * *

><p>))**&amp;&amp;&amp;^^^)&amp;&amp;^^^&amp;*&amp;()&amp;^&amp;*()^&amp;*^^&amp;&amp;^^<p>

( Andrew)

" Andrew, I've got three new bogeys inbound on my radar. Looks like the heavy cavalry has arrived."

Andrew flipped on his radio at Claudio's voice, " Yes, it looks like Britannia is sending their aces to battle now. I've got Gino Weinberg, Anya Alstreim, and Kururugi Suzaku on radar. In the Tristan, Mordred, and Lancelot respectively."

Toudoh's voice entered the frame, " I can take Suzaku."

" No, we need you to hold off the resurgent Black Knight forces that will no doubt accompany their charge. No, I shall take Suzaku myself!,", Andrew shouted over the radio. He pressed his controls forward to meet the enemy.

The Tristan and Mordred, despite being heavily upgraded, and in the Mordred's case, completely rebuilt, still looked exactly the same as they had in the Second Rebellion. The Lancelot, on the other hand, was a little different. It had more weapons, including what looked like drill lances on its feet. No doubt a way to try and make Suzaku's signature spin kick a lethal weapon.

Andrew directed, " Toudoh, keep the enemy suppressed using Chaosweaver. Wilhelm, take out Gino. Claudio, take out Anya. This day we cement Lord Lelouch's legacy and become Legends! To battle!"

Andrew parried the Lancelot's first attack, ducked beneath the next, feinted, and then smashed the VARIS rifle that Suzaku had been trying to hit him with. He spin kicked Suzaku and drove him back.

Inside of the Helios, Claudio was trying to even dent the Mordred's shields. Which he found that he could not. Over the channels, he heard Anya mutter, " Not even troublesome."

Claudio radioed to the Beleriand, " I can't do anything against Knight of Two. Her shielding is too strong!"

Marlowe radioed back, " Naturally, that's the Britannian form of the Shinkiro's old Absolute Defense System. Which means that nothing short of a….. That's it!"

The orders went over the radio, " Firing Command, this is Bridge. I want a firing solution generated for all 10 MARC cannons on the Mordred!"

Claudio gasped, " All ten? Isn't that a little overkill?"

"_No chance must be left to fate. Remove the enemy!"_

Andrew dodged beneath the MVS sword and caught the Lancelot's arm with his own, ripping it off. He smirked as he guided the Fenrir forward into a final confrontation. But then he felt a headache coming. That small headache turned into a full on migraine, which turned into debilitating pain.

He grasped his hair with both hands and pulled a large fistful from the end. He gasped as he tried to open his eyes, only to see red. His hands began to open and close involuntarily. He began to fight for breath, trying merely to hold onto consciousness. Wilhelm came over the radio, " Andrew, what's wrong? What's going on? Why have you stopped?"

"I-I-I don't know! Something's going on in my head!"

He began to slam his fist against the metal of his cockpit. His incapacity wasn't lost upon his enemy, for Suzaku took the opportunity to use his remaining MVS blade to sever both legs and one of his arms. He was readying the killing strike when the MARC cannons fired. Andrew looked at the only reflective surface in his cockpit, and saw a slight blue glow rimming his eyes.

* * *

><p>)&amp;*^&amp;(&amp;*^&amp;(%&amp;(%^&amp;(^&amp;(&amp;^(&amp;*(&amp;(&amp;^(&amp;(%^&amp;*(^&amp;(&amp;<p>

( Suzaku)

Suzaku was about to finish off his opponent when the firing sound of those huge cannons got his attention. He saw the ten cannons of the enemy flagship, called Rail Cannons by Lloyd, firing all at Anya. Gino shouted over the radio, " Anya! Dodge them! Your shields won't hold against those!"

The droll voice of the now Knight of Two came over the radio, " They are but a minor inconvenience."

Suzaku knew this wasn't the truth, " Knight of Two, I command you to avoid those shots! They're specially designed to go right through Blaze Luminous!"

_Too late, _ he thought as the Mordred was hit by five of the ten MARC shots. He heard Anya's screams over the radio as the shots impacted the Knightmare. The very air was rent apart by the force of the explosion. Suzaku had to shield his eyes from the light. When it faded, there was nothing left of the Mordred. Not even debris.

He ordered, " Gino! Pull back! There's nothing more we can do here!"

But Gino ignored his orders and charged the Phoenix of Berlin. The Tristan caught the Phoenix off guard, slashing off both of its arm cannons with its scythe. The pilot had enough time to eject before Gino finished it by slicing down the middle. The once invincible Phoenix exploded in a shower of smoke and fire. Next came the Helios.

Suzaku had long forgotten just how good Gino could be in a Knightmare when he was angry, and it surprised him greatly to watch the Knight of One completely remove both the arms and legs of the Helios with just two swings of the Tristan's polearm. _These are pilots that we've had trouble against all day! And he's toasting them like nothing! What's going on?_

Suzaku shouted on the radio, " Gino! Get back! We can't do anything else!"

" Damn you, Suzaku! I'm taking out those damn cannons if it's the last thing I do!"

" If you don't come back, it will be!"

He heard Gino hiss on the radio, but the Knight pulled back. _ Gino, you reckless fool. The enemy capital ship took five Hadron Cannon streams at the same time and didn't even cause the shields to lose energy. What's a single Knightmare going to do against it? If I didn't know better, I'd say that damn thing has better Blaze Luminous than the Damocles did._

* * *

><p>*&amp;^%$%^&amp;*(*&amp;^%$%^&amp;*U&amp;^%^&amp;*^%^&amp;*^&amp;*&amp;^<p>

( Marlowe)

" The Emperor's going to be pissed,", one of the engineers muttered as they recovered the Phoenix's left arm. Marlowe nodded in frustration. They shouldn't have been able to do that much damage to the Phoenix! Maybe the Helios, but the Phoenix? No. The Ablative armor should have adapted to the strike and negated the effects of it. Is the armor still flawed?

Claudio walked up, " I believe it was former Knight of Three, now Knight of One, Gino Weinberg who did this damage. After we destroyed the Mordred, it's like he was a completely different pilot."

Marlowe nodded, " Anger can do a lot of things to a man. Sometimes it makes them better, sometimes it makes them worse. I think we know what the case is with Gino. Either way, I had to call the retreat until Emperor Lelouch sends the signal."

The Ecliptica docked, and Toudoh disembarked from the cockpit, only to find himself under the heavy scrutiny of the guards. Marlowe called them off, " Don't worry, fellows. He's with us for now."

" Where is Lelouch?"

Marlowe frowned, " I'm not privy to the details of the Emperor's entire plan, but he said that he had business to attend to elsewhere. I imagine we will find out shortly."

" He always was one for keeping secrets. Oh well, the Ecliptica runs great. Makes anything I've ever piloted before look like a Japanese tank from the Britannian invasion. He said something about commissioning a custom Knightmare for me as well?"

Marlowe smiled slightly, " I'll have to pass that off to Brenden. I'm going to have my hands full rebuilding the Phoenix and Helios, as well as repairing the Fenrir. Speaking of the Fenrir, has anyone seen Andrew?"

A soldier saluted, " He retired to his quarters, something about his disorder acting up. He had a strange glow in his eyes. It was blue, and he was complaining about a really bad headache."

Marlowe had made his own hypothesis about Andrew's strange illness that he tried to pass off as Multiple Personality Disorder. However, whatever was causing it, wasn't scientific by nature. It wasn't medical either. It seemed like something supernatural seemed to be causing it. There was no logical explanation for why he seemed to have two minds fighting over who had control!

He received a ring on his communicator, " Hello?"

"_This is Lelouch. I'm entering the target building now. It is roughly 1:55 P.M time. Have all the men near a TV. Stormcrow has entered with me. We are advancing on the target as we speak."_

" Of course, Emperor."

Marlowe raised his voice, " Everybody! It's break time! Go find a TV. We've got a show coming!"

* * *

><p>(()&amp;&amp;((&amp;&amp;*((&amp;^&amp;**^&amp;*((&amp;&amp;*((*&amp;(&amp;&amp;(*&amp;&amp;((&amp;&amp;(*&amp;&amp;(&amp;*(&amp;*(*&amp;*(&amp;&amp;<p>

( Ohgi)

Ohgi stalked into the governmental building in downtown Tokyo, trying to avoid the public eye as he weathered the proverbial political storm for the war between these "Rogue Legions" and the Black Knights. He was immensely surprised by the amount of support that these "Legions" had, even in Japan. He kind of figured that Britannia would have big issues with them, Germany and Russia had been crippled by them, but Japan? If there were any country in the world where he was absolutely certain there would be no support for Lelouch, dead or otherwise, it would be Japan.

It baffled him that anyone could support the Demon. If only they knew about his accursed Geass, then surely they would cease following him just like the Black Knights had? But he couldn't be guaranteed of that. There were even rumors of subsections of the Black Knights being sleeper agents. The infamous, so-called Black Legion.

_Villetta was right. That bastard is still haunting us, even beyond the grave. Freaking Daemon, can't just go to Hell like you were supposed to now can you? _Ohgi thought with vehemence, also completely ignoring the fact that he had originally been Zero's/Lelouch's first supporter. It was something he used to beat himself up over, especially when the world was trying to recover from his wars, but in the end, he just got over it. Kind of like Kallen, who anyone would swear had been in love with the man. Just a completely opposite emotion.

His secretary looked up as he passed by, " Prime Minister Ohgi, your 2:00 appointment is waiting for you."

" Very well, tell him I'll be there in a second."

Ohgi continued to walk to his office, when he suddenly remembered something. _I didn't think I HAD a two o'clock appointment. Did I? This is what I get for passing my scheduling down to my secretaries._

He was about to open the door to his office when he remembered something else. _Was it me, or did my secretary have red rings around the irises of her eyes? Why does that sound familiar?_

He picked up his briefcase, and opened his office door. He walked in with his eyes down, muttering, " Sorry to keep you waiting, but I had business to attend to with my wife. Paranoid about this war you know."

_**" That's not a problem, Ohgi."**_

Ohgi dropped his briefcase. His mouth began to open and close without sound. He began to back towards the door, when the cold barrel of a hand gun was pressed to his neck. The Russian voice of Alexander Stormcrow descended down on him, " I already told you, Kaname Ohgi. This time, you're going down with the ship."

Ohgi felt his head being forced up. He found himself staring at the cold mask of Zero.

* * *

><p>ANs:

Lelouch has rediscovered his favorite tool. Mind raping, and he's turning it up to maximum power.

Going down with the ship: If you didn't already know, Alexander keeps saying this as a reference to Episode 23 of R2 when the Ikaruga was destroyed by the Fuji Eruption. But Oghi survived because Kallen and Tamaki shielded the bridge. The rest of the ship was eventually destroyed.

Fairy Tale Reference: Guren Hououken or Crimson Phoenix Blade, is the attack that Natsu uses in episode 67 to finish off the Oracion Seis leader. Who, ironically, is named Zero. You might even say it's a Code Geass reference. ( Hell, one of his lines is " Before me, all history shall end. And a New genesis of nothing shall be born." Not akin at all to Lelouch's Create New World by Destroying Old is it?)

Recruiting Toudoh: He's an honorable man, with very staunch principles. But, he would also be the type of person that a swindler, like Lelouch, would love to pick on. His principles also means he has very obvious weaknesses.

* * *

><p>Lelouch's Battle Strategy<p>

Over these two chapters, we've been observing Lelouch order his men around like pawns, naturally. This will break down his strategy.

First Step: Get the World's attention by assassinating Kallen's fiance.

Second Step: Broadcast Ried's Failsafe.

Third: Take China during Broadcast.

Four: Make dramatic speech because feel like Zero again.

Five: Goad Black Knights into hasty engagement.

Six: Using the Battle of Marathon as a basis, split forces into three sections, purposefully making the center weaker, but the flanks stronger.

Seven: Use stealth to fake the Black Knights into engaging full force.

Eight: Using flanking forces, circle around the Black Knight center, then have them threaten enemy capital.

Nine: Force enemy into no win situation.

Ten: Test Britannian Forces. React accordingly.

Eleven: Use the cover of battle to sneak into Tokyo and gain audience with Ohgi. Reveal to the world.


	5. Chapter 5  No World Order

Chapter 4 No World Order

_"Have no fear. Rebellion is here." _Gamma Ray, _Rebellion in Dreamland,_ "Land of the Free" 1995.

A/N: After this chapter, we will begin to explore some technology that is heavily borrowed from a combination of Mass Effect, Warhammer 40k, and Sins of a Solar Empire.

To bob115: Yeah, I'm a Kallen/Lelouch supporter myself. But, like on my other profile, I have an extremely odd habit of writing against the pairings I like for some reason.

" Speech" Normal talk

_Thoughts/previous chapter_

_**" Zero" **_ Lelouch wearing the Zero Mask.

* * *

><p><em>" Like I said, Kaname Ohgi. This time, you're going down with the ship."<em>

_Ohgi felt his head being forced up. He found himself staring at the cold mask of Zero._

* * *

><p><strong>54575745657&amp;(^&amp;(&amp;(^&amp;(679\<strong>

( Lelouch)

_** "Yes Ohgi, I have returned once more! Haven't I always said that so long as those in power abused it, that I shall continue to rebel?"**_

Ohgi grimaced, " You bastard. How dare you come back after all this time? What's this about?"

Lelouch made a few dramatic gestures, " _**Power, prestige, honor, none of the above. Revenge. I always get it, Ohgi."**_

Ohgi muttered, " So this is about the Black Knight thing huh? Well, I would rather we lose than worry about your cursed Geass any day! You can keep your false miracles, Zero, because we don't need them!"

"_**Ah, so that's your answer, eh Ohgi? Where would you be without those false miracles? Think on it for a moment Ohgi. Yes, that's right, back in the Ghettos, slumming away, fighting every day just to survive."**_

Ohgi shouted his next answer, " Maybe it was better back when we were a terrorist group! Back before the Black Knights! At least I still had all of my friends back then!"

" _**War is not without sacrifice, Kaname Ohgi. It isn't my fault that Inoue got blown to pieces, or that Suzaku decided to pick on Yoshitaka, or that you decided to have an affair with a Britannian Noblewoman. You sometimes need to just let things ride. People die in war. As for the Geass, can you even imagine how much longer it would have taken for us to even begin to oppose Britannia, much less defeat it, without it?"**_

Ohgi frowned, almost in thought, before hissing, " Take off the mask, Lelouch Vi Britannia. Amazing how you can talk about sacrifice, Demon. Did you lose anyone in the war?"

In the mask, Lelouch had to refrain from ordering Stormcrow to toss him the gun and let him do the executing. The voice modulator masked the anger in his voice, " _**You have no idea exactly how much I lost in those rebellions."**_

_Think on your next answer carefully, Ohgi. If you say something about sacrifice again, I might just lose myself. And that definitely wouldn't be good for the Zero image. _Lelouch thought as he suppressed the angry memories of Shirley's death, Euphemia's massacre, the FLEIJA accident, Nunnally's betrayal, and then Damocles.

Luckily, Ohgi said nothing of the sort, " So, are you going to kill me or what? I've got a kid you know."

In a whisper, Lelouch muttered, " _**Oh no, Ohgi. You see, unlike Toudoh, I'm not willing to cut you a deal."**_

Ohgi blinked in surprise, " Toudoh joined you! Does he have no sense?"

" _**He's got plenty actually. It was serve me, and his family would live, or I would Geass him into killing them himself. Now, onto more important things."**_

Lelouch turned on the TV in the room, which showed him and Ohgi. He pressed his hand to the communicator in his helmet, " _**Start now."**_

_** "**__Yes milord."_

* * *

><p>(&amp;*(&amp;(&amp;&amp;*(&amp;*(&amp;*(^&amp;(^&amp;(^&amp;(&amp;%^^&amp;%&amp;&amp;^&amp;&amp;<p>

( Milly)

Milly Cardemonde nee Ashford was enjoying a simpler life than one might have expected from a former noble who's parents owned the most prestigious school system in the world. In fact, most people would never make the connection between the notoriously flamboyant and bubbly former Student Council President to the composed reporter she was now, unless they knew her through the whole process.

Over the ten years since Lelouch Vi Britannia ended the world and created a new one, she had advanced enough and made enough money to start her own TV station. It had the highest ratings of any station in the world, Britannian or Japanese. Cardemonde Network was the world's number one leader in news, tabloids, science, and entertainment. All rolled into one happy hour with your hostess, Milly Cardemonde.

She never let anyone into her office, because deep down, she still missed Lelouch Lamperouge. Not Vi Britannia, the Demon King. But Lamperouge, the prince of Ashford Academy, the captor of the entire school's heart, hers included. She kept a picture of him on her desk, right next to the one of her and Rivalz's wedding three years ago.

She was looking at said picture, when her phone went off, " Yes?"

"_Ma'am, our cameras have been hijacked! We can't get our signal back through!"_

She ordered, " Well, do what you can. I suppose I had best find out what's going on."

She hung up, and flipped on the TV in her office. She was greeted by the masked face of Zero. The ominous voice of the masked crusader filled her office, " _**I am Zero. I….Have….Returned."**_

However old seeing Zero on the TV in a press conference was, this one was different. The one she was used to seeing, he seemed kind of meek and just followed whatever Empress Nunnally ordered him. This one….This one was different. This one was making her pulse rush just by the way he carried himself.

She fell out of her chair as he began his speech.

" _**I have returned to defeat those who are treacherous. To end this life of deception and destruction, to destroy those who would abused their power. To force them to atone for sins of old! As you all know, I, Zero, was betrayed by the Black Knights during the second Rebellion. This is simply repayment for the sin of old! Kaname Ohgi!"**_

The camera panned to show the Prime Minister of Japan being held at gun point by a devious and intimidating looking Russian man. Milly recognized him as Alexander Stormcrow, the man who had held her station up at gun point a few days ago for the original broadcast of Reid's fail safe.

_**" This is the man who traded his leader for a Britannian noblewoman and land he was already winning! The man who claimed he didn't want to be a pawn, but became the arms and legs of Schniezel El Britannia, the world's most masterful manipulator! He is nothing more than an arch-traitor who deserves the death that his friends received in their honorable service!"**_

Milly was amazed. Zero was a better journalist than half of her journalist department put together, which happened to include Diethard Reid's sister, Amelia. He was playing on the emotions that the failsafe had stirred up. This Zero clearly knew what he was doing.

_**"This day and age will now come to an end by my hands! The gloved hands that gave rise to the Demon, the bloody hands that gave death to the Massacre Princess, the fierce hands that gave birth to the Black Knights, the ruthless hands that destroyed his own creations shall now destroy this world and create a new one!"**_

Zero brought his hands up and removed his helmet. Milly felt like she was having a small heart attack.

" _** Lelouch Vi Britannia commands you,",**_ Lelouch shouted at the camera, bringing his unoccupied arm sweeping across his body, " _**World ARISE!"**_

He threw his fist into the air with a triumphant shout. Milly stood up and looked outside her TV station in the middle of Tokyo. Thousands were gathering, some were waving flags bearing the All-Seeing Eye that was now Lelouch's symbol. Many more were gathered together, chanting, " ALL HAIL LELOUCH!"

Her own camera men, men who had covered Lelouch's death with a smiling face, were actively yelling, " Execute the Traitors, Lord Zero!"

_How, why, does he have so much support? By Nunnally's orders, me and Rivalz and the others painted Lelouch like a demon, however much it hurt to do so. Have they been waiting for him?_

Lelouch ordered, " Stormcrow! Remove the traitor!"

" Yes your Highness."

Stormcrow threw the Japanese Prime Minister forward, and leveled his Desert Eagle pistol right between his eyes. He pulled the trigger. The Prime Minister's head virtually exploded from the gunshot. In a house not far from Milly's station, Villetta Ohgi screamed, " OHGI!"

* * *

><p>(*&amp;^^*(*&amp;^^&amp;*(&amp;^^^*((&amp;^*(&amp;&amp;(&amp;&amp;*((<p>

( Tamaki)

The red headed Black Sheep of the Black Knights walked into the war room of the new flagship, the Mori. He was the first person into the room, besides Kallen, who was angrier than normal due to the announcement that was going on right now.

Tamaki pulled the small, but rather heavy, metal container from his uniform pocket. He fitted it nicely into his palm. He asked, " Hey, Kallen? Could you come here for a second?"

Kallen glared at him, but came over with a, " What?"

He whispered, " Sorry for this,", and slammed his weighted fist into her stomach. She bent over in shock and pain, and he leveled a second shot to her head. The hit knocked her clean off her feet and unconscious, blood running in a steady trickle from her temple. She wasn't dead, but he wondered if he had put too much force into the blow.

Following his orders, he acted like someone had broken in and done it when Minami showed up. He demanded, " Minami! Get Kallen to the medical bay and evacuate her!"

Minami looked surprised, but did as he was asked. After he left, Tamaki turned to the monitor, and pressed his hand to his communicator, " This is Black Leader. Execute order number 00."

"_Copy that Black Leader."_

Tamaki pressed the button on the container, and a large banner came shooting out. It was the Black Knight flag, but the symbol was jet black, set to a field of sable red. Tamaki muttered, " Hail Lord Zero."

Outside, Black Knight ships were beginning to turn and fire upon each other. The Ikaruga IV, damaged as it was, was completely destroyed by streams of Hadron Scatter cannon fire. Xingke, in the control room of the Mori, shouted, " Why are our own ships firing upon each other?"

The purple haired defense coordinator replied, " We've been infiltrated by the Rogue Legions!"

Xingke was about to issue a new order when he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his chest. He fell over, gasping for breath, to see a smiling Tamaki standing over him. Tamaki pulled a small bag out, " How was that sake we had with lunch, eh Xingke? Foxglove poison. Extremely powerful muscle stimulant, used to help stimulate shock victims. But overdose is known to cause heart attacks."

Xingke cursed Tamaki, to which he only replied, " All Hail Zero."

Li Xingke, Greatest Hero the Chinese Federation had ever known, died of a poison induced heart attack by the least capable of all the Black Knights. And the last Black Knight who remained loyal.

****_Flashback…Three Weeks Ago****_

_ Tamaki was leaving the Bistro he had started after the war, when someone flagged him down from afar. He recognized him as Gottfried Hansen, the new Black Knight Adjudicator that he had become quite acquainted with as of late. They toured the same bars, and Hansen had filed some high reviews for Tamaki's bistro. _

_ Hansen led him into a warehouse. Once inside, he was greeted by one of the most wanted men in the world, Alexander Stormcrow Petrenko. Behind him was the figure of a man he swore was dead. Petrenko asked but one question, " Tamaki, are you still loyal to Zero?"_

_ He answered, " Of course! I was the last man to turn against Lelouch man, and I would be the first back if he lives!"_

_ Then the Demon stood up, " I am flattered that you think so highly of me after all these years, Tamaki. My men have been watching you for awhile. I never thought you would be one who would go snooping in the Ghosts of the Past."_

_ " Some of the circumstances involving those last few battles was too suspicious man. I'm surprise I didn't think about it at the time. If we were so worried about being manipulated and being pawns, then why were we serving the man who had a reputation of being a master manipulator? Not to mention being the Emperor's favorite son?"_

_ Lelouch smiled at the Japanese man, " Good, nice to see someone in the Black Knights had sense, even if it came a few years too late. This is for you,", he threw a small canister at Tamaki. The weight surprised him, and he almost dropped it. Lelouch explained, " That contains the banner of the Eleventh Legion of Lelouch Vi Britannia. The Black Legion."_

_ Tamaki pressed the small button on the side, and a banner with a jet black version of the Black Knight winged sword appeared. It was set in a field of sable red. He asked, " But, why me?"_

_ " No one would ever expect you to be the leader of a Rogue Legion Tamaki. You probably don't know it, but a lot of your superiors really don't like the fact that your loyalties seemed to waver during the whole Black Mutiny deal. In fact, I can guarantee that Xingke takes an active part in blocking your promotions._

_ " But you're also the only Black Knight member with any type of loyalty to me at all right now. You'll have to fix this. In the coming weeks, I will be putting my plans into action. I need you to infect the lower ranks of the Black Knights with my plague. Convert them to me."_

_ Tamaki gave a salute, " As you command, Zero."_

_****_Real Time *******

Tamaki switched the comm links on, " This is Legion Commander Tamaki. By my orders, execute Order Double Zero!"

Dozens of links appeared, " Yes Milord!"

Dozens of Black Knight ships suddenly changed their IFFs to those of the Rogue Legions, and began to turn their ships.

Meanwhile, in the evac shuttle, Minami questioned one of the only members to escape the Mori, " Why are we firing on our own men?"

The member in question frowned, " It appears that we were infiltrated. Looks like it was Tamaki."

* * *

><p>)*&amp;^%^&amp;*()*&amp;^%$%^&amp;*(*&amp;^&amp;*&amp;*&amp;*&amp;^*&amp;&amp;<p>

( Avalon 2)

" Suzaku, what's going on out there?"

Suzaku replied from the Gareth he was piloting while the Lancelot was being repaired, " Looks like the Black Knights are firing on each other. You think Lelouch has something to do with it?"

Nunnally narrowed her eyes, " Of course he does, Suzaku. Order all the men to pull back."

" We're abandoning the Black Knights?"

Nunnally replied, " Of course. We need all of our men to keep my brother from taking his wrath out on Britannia. I fully expect to have to deal with military revolts and public uprisings when we get back. No doubt his words from earlier will have had a huge effect on public morale."

She couldn't have been more right. There were over fifty reports of public riots in almost all major Britannian cities. There were even more reports of countries and former areas that were falling under the control of various other Rogue Legions. Soon, Britannia would be the only country left to oppose Lelouch's hegemony.

Nunnally frowned, thinking heavily of what she would have to do to defeat her brother. Yes, he was one of the greatest military minds in the history of mankind. Yes, he was more charismatic than Julius, Augustus Caesar, Vladmir Lenin, and Schniezel all thrown together. But, Lelouch had a huge flaw in all of his maneuvers. He had an undying ability to dig himself huge holes that he couldn't get out of.

Almost all of his maneuvers ended up with either his death or near death. He formed the Black Knights to free Japan, but a culmination of things caused them to betray him. His mistakes made him human, and while he was breaking his old record right now, he was bound to make a mistake soon. She suspected that mistake might be underestimating her, or taking it easy on her because she was his sister.

Gino walked into the Avalon's bridge, " Your Majesty, I would request that we continue to fight."

" And why is that, Knight of One?"

Gino frowned, " Vengeance."

" Is not worth sacrificing what few men we already have. We will retreat. You are aware of the fact that we only have twenty working Knightmares thanks to the Black Knight's inability to make sure that everyone they recruited was loyal, correct?"

Gino scowled angrily, but let it drop, " Very well, Your Majesty."

Suzaku was walking into the Bridge after disembarking his Gareth. He caught the look on Gino's face, so he waited until after the Knight of One left to ask, " What happened?"

Nunnally brightened, " Gino spouted some nonsense about getting vengeance for Anya's death. But that's beyond the point. What's Lloyd got for us?"

" Well, if we could ever get him and Rakshata to stop fighting each other down in the hangars, then we might actually get somewhere. But for now, neither seems to be able to come up with the countermeasures we need to win this thing. It worries me."

Nunnally sighed, " Their feuding will get us killed. But, we won't be going anywhere without them, so I guess it's just a necessary evil. What can you tell me about the enemy?"

Suzaku flinched, " They're good. Very good. Even their grunts are highly trained and capable pilots. But while their commanders have Knightmares that make the Gareths look like Glasgows, their grunt forces still fight using older frames. The Black Knight Gekka Threes were more than enough of a technological advantage over their Rochester and Omaha frames. Their superior skill made up for it some, but the Phoenix seems to be a Knightmare specially designed to bring down swarms."

" So only a couple of units were doing the real damage?"

Suzaku nodded, sending Nunnally into thought. The enemy was slightly outdated, but given her brother's almost insane mind, they would have something beyond the imaginations of even an eccentric like Lloyd by the end of the month thanks to the resources they had secured.

Yeah, Lelouch was all for revenge and all. But even the deaf, dumb, and blind squirrel knew that the real reason he went after Japan first was for the Sakuradite, and that he went after China for the other resources needed in Knightmare construction. Heaven only knew what they would do if they were able to equip their base infantry with Knightmares like the ones used by the commanders.

Lloyd and Rakshata had put positive identifications on only two of the four Super Generation Knightmares the enemy had used. One was called the Fenrir, and was designed very closely to the Lancelot. The main differences were stronger Luminous shields and aesthetics. But the blade were energy weapons, not the normal MVS swords that even after ten years were a mainstay in any army.

The second, was the Phoenix. But the weapons and armor of the Phoenix remained a mystery even to the combined genius ( and insanity) of the two scientists. They had names, with the armament of the right arm being the Hellfury Cannon, and the left wielding a weapon called the Nova cannon. The Armor was called Ablative Armor, but for their lives, the two couldn't figure it out.

However, the one deduction they had made to Nunnally was that the Ablative Armor was flawed. Whatever it's true purpose, it didn't do it. It seemed to be a molecularly adaptive armor that would adapt to the force and composition of the strike to completely negate it. It was the only Knightmare in the enemy arsenal that didn't feature enough Blaze Luminous shielding to make the Lancelot look defenseless.

But, for whatever reason, the chemical composition was off, causing the armor to malfunction. Given that it was extremely light outside of special properties, it was no wonder that Gino cut right through it like a katana through warm butter. It was a testament to Wilhelm Temkhe's skill that he was still alive at that point in the battle, where his armor wouldn't have stopped an old Stun Tonfa, much less the newer MVS swords. But that was also the same guy who stared down Bismarck Waldstein in a Sutherland and lived to tell about it.

Nunnally and the rest of Britannia knew so little about the Phoenix, and even less about whatever the name of that one Knightmare that was teleporting around, that they couldn't accurately factor them into any plans. The only Knightmare they knew the full capabilities of, was the Helios.

Since Claudio Darlton was supposedly back in the Mainland, visiting his old Princess Cornelia, they assumed the mech was stolen. The term Super Gloucester couldn't apply better to it. Theoretically, it shouldn't have been able to measure up to the likes of Guren S.E.I.T.E.N and Lancelot Albion, much less Guren Hououken and Lancelot Reborn. Whoever was its pilot had seriously been putting it through its paces out there.

Without any additional knowledge of the enemy technology, the Britannians couldn't formulate plans to stop them. Any little tidbit was useful, so any report from Nina, who had been doubling as a spy for the weeks leading up to the Rogue Revolt, however minor, was viewed as a God-send.

* * *

><p>***((&amp;^*(&amp;^*(*&amp;*(&amp;^((&amp;*)(&amp;*((*7<p>

( Marlowe)

The top scientist of the Rogue Legions watched with a bemused smile as his men deposited the Guren's Radiant Wave Surger in the hangar. Brenden had expressed a desire to incorporate some of its design elements into the Gabriel, but they were unable to thus far decide what to do with it. Maybe Radiation Slash Harkens or something like that.

However, Marlowe was busy trying to rebuild what was left of the Fenrir. He needed to have a new Phoenix built entirely, and the Helios needed to be replaced anyway. He was already working on the new designs for the Helios, which would be considerably more up to date than the glorified super Gloucester that Claudio had been using.

As for the Ablative Armor problem, well, something was off with the chemical composition of the armor. It should have stopped Gino's scythe in its tracks but didn't. So he and Brenden needed to get to work on that as well. Boy, Blizzard group had gone from being boring as hell to overload in a matter of a few hours.

But, the Ecliptica had been an immense success, with both Lelouch and Toudoh piloting it to maximum potential. It gave him heart as he tried to decipher a way to get the Gabriel project off the ground. Yeah, they had the basic design prospects down, but the main weapon of the Gabriel was still giving them fits. It was called the Multi-Weapon, a reform able weapon that could reform based on the situation. It was a dynamic prospect to say the least, but the actual physics made it almost impossible to deploy on a Knightmare.

The Gabriel Project was going even slower now that Stormcrow had instructed them to keep Nina out of the loop as well. While Brenden and Marlowe had no problems doing so, the meek and somewhat psychopathic scientist had a strange gift for designing WMDs and superweapons. While it could be debated whether it was worth putting up with her considerable baggage, sometimes she designed something you just couldn't figure out how she came up with it.

The possibility of a spy within their ranks gave even greater danger to the designing of the Gabriel. Marlowe and Brenden shuddered at the very thought of Rakshata and Lloyd getting a hold on those plans. Unlike their two seniors, Marlowe and Brenden had no professional qualms about stealing secrets, but it would be devastating for the war effort if those two were to finish the Gabriel before they could.

The tactical display in the hangar lit up. What remained of the Black Knight armada was quickly scattering into the wind. The few Britannian forces were already nearing Hawaii. However, Marlowe's eyes were drawn to the token force that was entering Tokyo and nearing the Educational district. He radioed the Emperor, " Your Majesty, it looks like some Black Knight Remnants have retreated to the Japanese Branch of Ashford Academy. Your orders?"

The voice of Lelouch filtered in, " That's not good. Order the Legions to push to Tokyo. We'll meet up in the Capital Building to plan for the attack. Until then, continue to work on the repairs on our Knights."

" Aye milord. Commander Toudoh has requested permission to form his own command squad. What are your orders?"

It was met with silence for a moment, before the Emperor answered, " I guess Toudoh wants to rebuild the Holy Sword Order. Tell him he has permission to use anyone who is not already in my Knight Guard. My Knight Guard is defined as anyone using one of our Custom Knightmares, excluding Toudoh himself."

" Very well."

Marlowe frowned at the Emperor's orders. The Emperor was a great leader, that could never be doubted. However, he was extremely aloof, and only informed even his closest subordinates of the immediately relevant parts of his plans. As of right now, not even Stormcrow, who was literally standing right next to the Emperor, knew what the next step would be. Beyond the obvious element of solidifying their conquest by eliminating the remaining Black Knights.

Marlowe turned to the armless and legless wreck of the Helios that they had discarded. The new Helios, who's frame was already almost constructed, would be sturdier and would have more advanced technology in its frame.

The new spear would be in Glaive form. But it would also be a Morphogenesis weapon, allowing it to be split into two MVS Morphogensis swords that could be used independently. The same design as the claymore used by the Ecliptica really. A similar weapon, duel katanas that would fuse to form a naginata, was being designed for Toudoh's Custom Frame, tentatively named Bishamonten, as well.

However, they couldn't move forward with either of those projects until they secured the Sakuradite of Tokyo. An alarm indicating that the Beleriand was approaching Tokyo sounded.

* * *

><p>)(*&amp;^%$%^&amp;*()*&amp;^%&amp;*()*&amp;^&amp;*(&amp;^^%<p>

( Stormcrow….On board of the Elendil)

Alexander Stormcrow wasn't happy with a lot of things. Being a decoy in this elaborate pincer by the Emperor was one of the things he wasn't very happy about. However, for the first time in ten years, he was genuinely pleased with his meek adopted daughter.

He smiled at the trembling scientist, " You've done well with this weapon, Nina. It will change this battle."

She complained, " But the Emperor will never use this. He's got many faults, but utterly ruthless is not one of them."

Stormcrow frowned, causing her to flinch, " No, he may not. But I will."

" F-Father…are you saying you would go against the Emperor?"

Stormcrow laughed, " Why wouldn't I? I'm the very reason he lives again, Nina. Were it not for this Blizzard group, he would not live. Why should you care anyway? You've always hated the man. Enough to light the very air he breathes aflame. Has your view changed?"

The nervous scientist tittered slightly, but Stormcrow ignored her, " Regardless. You will continue work on the Necrosis. You will continue to leak plans for the other Knightmares as necessary. It wouldn't due for Lelouch to have this too easy would it?"

Nina couldn't even nod her head in face of the evil glare Stormcrow sent her way.

* * *

><p>( Britannian Forces)<p>

" Empress Nunnally, we have an incoming transmission from Grand Commander Cornelia."

The Empress smiled brightly, " Patch her through."

The purple haired, violet eyed, former Second Princess of Britannia appeared on the link, " Empress, what's the situation in Area 1-I mean, Japan? And why did Zero appear on the TV?"

Nunnally tilted her head slightly, " The situation is terminal, I'm afraid, sister. By now, I guess you know that we are fighting Lelouch?"

The Witch of Britannia flinched somewhat, " Y-Yes. I'm dealing with the insubordination of the military right now, but we should be able to field a large force against him."

Nunnally waggled a finger, " I think that if we go for a decisive confrontation, then we will be playing right into Lelouch's hands. It just seems to be his game. It is problematic that even our own military is rebelling. Any words from the other Knights of Rounds?"

Cornelia held up two fingers, " Only two, Empress. Soren is bringing his honor guard and personal forces to help subjugate the military. As for Boron, he's still in Europe. He said he'll be back as quickly as possible, but the uprisings in Germany have caused huge delays in travel. I wouldn't rely too much on the Knights of Rounds anyway, Empress."

Nunnally nodded in agreement, " Besides Gino and Suzaku, they seem to be lacking the old talent don't they? I mean, at least Monika, Bismarck, Ernst, and all the others were pretty talented. Especially Bismarck."

Cornelia frowned, " Whereas a blind Guilford has more talent than the newer ones do, besides Gino and Suzaku. Did they really kill Alstriem?"

Nunnally nodded sadly, " Yes. They used the Mordred 2 to experiment with their new guns. There wasn't even any debris left."

" Our brother….no I can't even call him my brother, our Great Enemy is truly deserving of his title. Can we move on with this operation? I'm tired of sitting around waiting. So is Guilford. Ever since his eyesight came back, he's been itching to get back into a Knightmare."

Nunnally sighed, dealing with her half sister could be so tiresome sometimes, " Very well. Begin mobilizing."

* * *

><p>*(&amp;(&amp;(&amp;&amp;(&amp;&amp;*&amp;^(*&amp;*(&amp;&amp;(&amp;*&amp;(<p>

( Three Hours Later)

" Well, men, we've got us a situation that doesn't look good."

Claudio raised an eyebrow at Commander Typhon, " Of course it doesn't look good. I'm working on a plan, but I'm not so worried about our actual enemies. I'm more worried about how the public's going to see us."

Lelouch laughed, " I guess Claudio here is right. This is a PR nightmare."

" What? Why?"

Lelouch brought up a display of Ashford Academy, which was remarkably unchanged since his time there ten years ago. He explained, " We have two options really. One, which Stormcrow has proposed, is that we just blow the Academy off the face of the earth and say fuck it to them. The other, is that we can just leave them alone."

Marlowe asked, " I can see why option two would be a bad idea, but why not option one? It's a holiday isn't it?"

Lelouch shook his head, " According to Milly Cardemonde, the principal's daughter, all Ashford Academy students remain on campus all year unless sick or military leave is granted. In other words, why would people like Nina and Shirley be there all year, when people like Kallen and Suzaku left all the time? Given my own living status in relevance to the campus, I never noticed."

Claudio nodded in understanding, " Collateral damage. We can't just go in there and massacre the students. How despicable. The Black Knights, who I once considered honorable adversaries, using students as shields."

" It's as bad as Kawaguchi ten years ago when Kusakabe decided to take the hotel hostage,", Toudoh added with an angry expression, " That incident alone did more damage to the JLF than Narita and the Harbor explosion put together. "

_He's right, _Lelouch thought, _Cornelia would never have been so fervent in her pursuit of the JLF if Kusakabe hadn't taken her sister, Euphemia, hostage. _ Claudio continued his discussion, " We can't afford for His Majesty to live up to the Demon Emperor name. We currently have the support of the people. To exterminate the enemy in such a fashion, would completely destroy that support."

Stormcrow countered, " But just leaving them would erode that support as well."

Lelouch motioned for his commanders to continue proposing plans. Typhon was the first to come up with something, " We need the lesser of two evils. I'll take infantry units in, and defeat the enemy. We will have specific instructions to avoid civilian casualties. I understand that in this situation, collateral damage cannot, nor will it, be tolerated."

Lelouch nodded, " Very well, you will have your infantry. Eliminate the enemy. No doubt some other 'Secondary' parties will have gotten involved as well. Capture them."

" Yes Milord!"

Typhon left the room to begin gathering his soldiers for the operation. Lelouch zoomed into the Ashford diagram. " I am surprised that the school has changed little since I myself was a student. An ideal insert point would be the old clubhouse where Nunnally and I lived. No one lives there now, and only the Student Council ever uses it. Our intelligence indicates that the enemy is in the sewers."

Stormcrow frowned, " But the Ashford Sewers are not connected to the sewer systems of the rest of Tokyo. That would mean…"

" That they plan on either holding out or they will just be hiding. Be careful men."

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry, but this chapter's considerably shorter, and more filler than anything, than the last couple of chapters. Take it as my promise that my next chapter will be longer.

Bishamonten: In Shinto-Buddhism, this is the name of the War God.

The Mori: The new capital ship of the Black Knight ( Now Black Legion) fleet is named after the sea faring clan from the Sengoku Jidai period of Japan.

The Black Legion: The name is a Warhammer 40k reference. The Black Legion being the foremost Traitor Legion that was founded by the Arch Traitor himself, the Emperor's chosen son, Horus the Warmaster. The reference refers to both the Black Knights who betrayed Lelouch ( Led Toudoh and Xingke) during R2, as well as the Black Knights who betrayed Xingke and the U.F.N ( Led by Tamaki).

The Legions: Besides the Orange Legion, the Phoenix Legion, and Blizzard Group, all the Legions will be named after a respective Space Marine Legion. Example: The Lost Wolves can be drawn to the Space Wolves Space Marine chapter.

The New Knights of Rounds: All of the generic OC Knight of Rounds members will be named after Guardian of Ga'Hoole Characters.


	6. Chapter 6 Academy of Evil

Chapter 5 Academy of Evil

Commander Typhon Jameson knew this was the mission of his life. Infiltrate and destroy the enemy. But, there were enough constraints on this mission to make that C.C woman choke on her beloved pizza.

His visor updated:

" **Mission Code Name: Anarchy in the Academy**

** Objective: Eliminate the remaining Black Knight resistance.**

** Key Target: Villeta Ohgi nee Nu. Eliminate without hesitation.**

** Key Target 2: Nagisa Chiba: Capture.**

** Limitations: Absolutely NO collateral damage. Civilian Casualties will be dealt with by execution."**

There were 200 students, 50 teachers, and 10 custodial staff at Ashford Academy, Tokyo Branch. Complicating the fact was that the Principal of the School System as a whole also lived on campus, and that Ashford Family Manor wasn't far either made this a damning mission. Even though the Emperor had paged that Milly Cardemonde, only daughter and heir of the Ashfords, had given them permission to destroy the Manor, it would still look really bad if they did.

His night vision activated as the infiltrated the dimly lit sewer system under the cover of night. He, his second, and the rest of the squad of ten men stole themselves for battle. Typhon motioned for them to crack open the entrance from the clubhouse.

They silently entered the sewer system. He surveyed the near area. No enemies yet. It was strangely silent, given that they should now be in the middle of enemy territory. " Any movement?"

_" No, commander. Was our intel wrong?"_

" Are you questioning the Emperor himself?"

"_No sir. Just saying."_

_ "_Don't."

Typhon and his men continued to snoop around, but eventually, they came into a power station of some sort. One of the men commented, " This is strange."

He held up a strange glowing device. Typhon's eyes went wide, " Throw it now! Everyone! GET DOWN!"

Typhon barely had time to obey his own order when the Liquid Sakuradite C4 went off.

(*&^&*()*&^&*(&*(&*(&*&*&*I&*(&

( Lelouch)

Lelouch frowned when he saw the East Win of Ashford Academy go up in a huge explosion. Claudio's fist was clenched into a fist, " I thought we ordered them to NOT hurt the civilians!"

A static laced channel opened, " E…..Per…orTis….Co…..ander…..Typhon…..Am….bush….E…..emy….ever….where…..Send…Rei…force….ents…"

Lelouch's frown deepened further. While something he certainly would have done to maybe a mall, he still had morals. He would never hold a school hostage. That's when the tactical display went rainbow.

He gritted his teeth in surprise. Claudio's radio link went off, " Milord! They're everywhere!"

The remnants of the Black Knights were swarming the Academy. Lelouch immediately went on the broadcast system, " All citizens! This is Lelouch Vi Britannia! I hearby order all citizens to return to their homes and get out of the streets! Martial order is now instated!"

" _Emperor, this is Temkhe. I'm going out in an Omaha frame, but it looks like the Black Knights have already established Air Superiority over the Academy. I just received a communication from Typhon. The enemy has ambushed him and his team is pinned down in the power cell. You can see it from the Beleriand. It's where the smoke is coming from."_

Lelouch frowned, " Very well. Jeremiah!"

The radio of the Surtur buzzed, " _Yes my liege_?"

" Move towards the Academy. Additional foot soldiers are being deployed. Secure the Dormitories. We cannot allow civilian casualties."

"_As you command."_

Lelouch scowled as he entered into deep thought, _I should have known this would happen. I guess that after being dead for ten years, my edge is gone. I'm still better than these guys, but something's missing. I wonder what? Maybe I just don't have the same reasons...That has to be it. I feel more and more like my father every day. _

Marlowe walked into the room, " Penny for your thoughts?"

" Your life wouldn't be good enough payment for you to access my mind, Marlowe Harrison."

Marlowe smirked at the threat, " Not to be unexpected from the same man who threatened my fifth uncle with death when he offered to study his Geass. Yeah, me and the Earl Pudding are distantly related, but back during the Noble period, who the hell wasn't?"

Lelouch chuckled, " You're telling the man who had 39 siblings, at least 20 aunts, and heaven only knows how many cousins. So, you were a noble."

" Not really. I came from the poor side of the family you might say. That's not saying we lived in the ghetto or anything, but I didn't get a free ride to university like Lloyd did. We can talk more about it after the battle, but I'm really worried about Andrew in there. I've known him and his family for a while now."

Lelouch nodded, returning to the Tactical display. Then he noticed that he was receiving a secure link from Typhon.

*&*((&*))**&()*&((*()**&()*&*)**)**)**

( Typhon)

Typhon blinked his eyes, and tried to get a sense of what was going on. He heard gunfire. Lots of gunfire, in the not so far distance. He forced his eyes open, and took in a hellish scene.

Fire leapt all around him. Smoke filled the air. Most of his men were dead, and those who weren't, were burning alive. Their screams infuriated him. He tilted his head towards the sky.

The explosion had forced an opening in the ground above them. It was large enough for a man to climb up. He grabbed a small piece of railing that had fallen, and used it to brace against some of the other debris. Using it, he jumped up and grabbed a hold of the ledge.

He grunted as he climbed up the smoke filled debris chamber. His head swam from smoke. Finally, he reached the top, and took eager gasps of fresh air. He sat for a moment to get his head. It was obviously a trap. He should have noticed that himself. So should have the Emperor. That really got him thinking.

_Marlowe always said there were risks with Project Rebirth, rechristened Project Lazarus. The risk that the revived would not have the same mindset and skills as they had prior to death. This was particularly obvious with Euphemia, the very first Reborn. Reborn with the mental capacity of a five year old, she was nothing compared to who she had been. _

_ However, The Emperor came up with that plan to get us into Japan. Got to admit, only he would be thinking that far ahead. But what if the revival took some of his short sighted strategy ability away? That could be extremely problematic in the long term. But I need to be thinking in the short term, or I'm a dead man. Hell I already am a dead man._

Typhon switched his visor on. He entered the Line Alpha Link that was used only by himself. He began the transmission.

"**Emperor Lelouch Vi Britannia. This is Commander Typhon Jameson. This is of utmost importance. After the battle, go to my quarters. Inside of a small cabinet, are three flash drives. One is entitled ' The Imperium of Mankind.' The Second is entitled, ' Champions of Mankind.' The Third is entitled ' Project NECROSIS' Watch all the videos on each one, but the third is the most important."**

He cut the link before the Emperor could respond. Typhon stood up, and drew his Galil from his back. Thus began his hunt.

He activated the small tactical radar on his wrist, and began moving towards the Male Dormitory. Large concentrations of enemies were there, but no one was engaging them. They were primarily infantry. It was a short five minute walk.

Explosions rippled around him. He ducked his head to avoid stray gunfire from the massive Knightmare conflict erupting above his head. He switched his communicator to friendly, " All surviving infantry reform on me! This is Commander Typhon Jameson! All surviving infantry regroup on me! My location is one click south of the East Wing main building. I am preparing to assault the Central Academy location!"

He took cover in the small building, and shortly, about fifty infantrymen joined him. Their commander, a man named Romulus saluted him. Typhon brought them inside. He ordered, " Get all of your anti-armor weapons ready. I want twenty men to form the vanguard. I will lead from the front personally."

As he said it, he pulled out a small canister similar to the one Tamaki had. He pressed the button, and a banner flew out of it. But this banner wasn't the typical Rogue Legion banner, nor was it Lelouch's personal All-Seeing Eye with a red iris. A large, double-headed, golden eagle dotted the banner. He lifted a large, heavily modified pistol from his belt. It was jet black.

He held the banner up, and declared, " Today we found a new Empire! Today begins the fall off the Empire of Britannia and begins the rise of our own Holy Imperium! An Empire that shall span all of mankind and rule us for forty thousand years! This day we fight! And we fight well! An Imperium of Mankind shall rise from the ashes of this Dark Age and lead us unto glory! To battle!"

Typhon hoisted the banner high with a shout, and rushed out of the building. The fifty men followed behind him, covering him with blankets of machine gunfire. Ten men rushed to group around him, forming a sort of honor guard. An RPG took down a swooping Knightmare who had neglected to raise his shielding.

The force entered the Central building, and encountered some swift resistance. Typhon yelled triumphantly as he leveled his pistol and fired one shot. The shot hit the small barricade and exploded. The barricade disappeared in the fiery conflagration, and the small crew of enemy soldiers was eliminated. Typhon shouted, " Raid their supplies! Take all ammunition and anti-armor weapons you can find!"

Twenty of the men ran in, and came out carrying special Grim Reaper class anti armor missile launchers. Launchers that could fire four missiles at once. The remaining thirty men came out with loads of ammunition for their assault rifles. Typhon began to order defenses made.

" Men, I want ten soldiers stationed here on the staircase to the Gym. Ten more will build a barricade that will stop enemies from entering the upper floor. The rest will be with me, including all anti-armor units. We will hold the enemy as long as we can!"

One of the men asked, " How will we get their attentions?"

Typhon pulled out a small communicator he had nicked off of a dead Black Knight, " Leave that to me, soldier."

Typhon pressed the communicator to his ear, and in fluent Japanese, said, " _**Enemy units have captured the main campus. Respond with full force."**_

__" Now we wait."

Elsewhere, Jeremiah Gottwald was entering the fray with his deep red and black Giga fortress, named Surtur after the Norse giant that would cleanse the world in fire. He fired his lance harkens at the trio of enemy Knightmares that were trying to move towards the academy, taking them down in one shot. He charged the trio of auto-cannons on the bottom of the Surtur.

The Surtur, minus it's magma red and black color scheme, was still almost exactly the same as the old Siegfried he had piloted during the Damocles Incident. But this one was a huge upgrade, despite being aesthetically the same.

The Surtur featured EM Armor that was almost triple the strength of the already almost impenetrable Sieg armor. It featured three charged Auto-cannons, as opposed to the just one on the Sieg. And it had three more projectable Drill Lance Spikes than the Sieg had. It was also more maneuverable and had special, EM Luminous Shielding. Suffice to say, there was a reason that not even his adopted and now deceased daughter's Stark Cannons hadn't even scratched him.

He chuckled faintly as his cannons reaped heavy destruction on the scrambling Black Knight infantry below him. Jeremiah was piloting the only Knightmare in the battle for the Legions. He was covering the advancing Azure Templar Legion Infantry, the newest Rogue Legion to join the cause here in Japan.

Small dots appeared on his scan, and he willed the KGF towards the advancing phalanx of ten Akatsuki V class Knightmares. He smirked as he launched his Drill Lances, skewering three. He fired a barrage of electro-cannon fire, activated his electro armor to shed off the missiles, and finished them off with his own storm of missile fire.

Jeremiah radioed to the Emperor, " Your Majesty, our forces have occupied the Male Dormitories and are currently evacuating survivors. We estimate a 20% student casualty rate. However, the enemy is in higher concentrations around the Female Dorms. Wait….The enemy is changing course. They are advancing upon the central building!"

Lelouch's voice filled his cockpit, " _I don't know what Typhon is planning, but he's causing the distraction. Capture the dorms, and then proceed to capture the enemy leadership."_

Jeremiah smirked, " Yes Your Majesty!"

Jeremiah shouted, " Let us reward his Majesty's faith in us and push this battle to the end! To Victory!"

*&&**&**&(&(&*(&**&**&**&(&*&(()**(*((*)((*

( New Pendragon Airspace Avalon 2)

Suzaku and the rest of the Britannian brain trust all scowled as they observed the battle taking place inside of Tokyo at the moment. Gino, in particular, voiced his displeasure, " Why are they fighting him on his own terms?"

The remaining Black Knights who had retreated to Britannia hissed at Gino's remark. Kallen answered, " Because Chiba and Villetta are even dumber than Tamaki, if that's possible."

Suzaku quipped, " The same Tamaki who successfully turned most of the Black Knights into a Rogue Legion?"

Kallen responded by slamming her fist into the Knight of Zero's stomach. Both had to be restrained to prevent a full physical confrontation from erupting from the two known rivals. Nunnally chuckled at the tension in the room.

As could only be expected, those Black Knights who had survived were pissed that the Britannians had abandoned them when the Black Legion showed itself. Though, as both Suzaku and Nunnally pointed out, they had been warned on several occasions that not all Black Knight members shared a hatred for Lelouch.

The Knight of Five, a tawny blonde haired man named Soren, muttered, " We need to stop fighting each other, and fight the enemy."

Kallen hissed, " The remaining Black Knights have maybe five hundred Frames, and thirty ships. We have no recruits, no anything. We need Britannia to honor our allegiance and step in! Not just sit here and watch this…this…this Demon destroy our capital!"

" Au contraire, the Demon isn't destroying your capital at all. In fact, he's doing a better job of keeping it whole than you did."

Gino shouted, " Stop fighting! We have more important things to be doing!"

While the bridge was in complete disarray, Lloyd Asplund, Cecile Croomy, and Rakshata Chawla were busy downloading the newest report that their spy had sent them. It was a pretty large file, and even now, the combined brilliance of the scientists was having trouble digesting some of the technology used.

**" Class: Ecliptica**

**Pilot: Lelouch Vi Britannia**

**Armament: Two MVS Morphogensis Blades. 1 x Prism Cannon. 2x Draconic Chromium Wings**

**Special: Artificial Sun Projection. Timewave Zero. Chaosweaver, and Quantum Leaper.**

**Bio: A Knightmare specially designed to stop Melee heavy Frames such as the Guren, the Ecliptica is a powerful frame that features all the cutting edge technology available."**

However, it wasn't the Ecliptica that worried them. It was a smaller report that didn't have detailed specs at all. Lloyd fussed, " What is this Project Gabriel?"

Rakshata quoted, "' The attempt to create the perfect Knightmare frame. A perfect balance of Speed, Maneuverability, Defensive power, and offensive power.' This sounds like some crazed dream of the Pudding Earl or some wild cooking concoction by Croomy over there."

Both of the other scientists ignored her jibes. Lloyd paled, oddly. He exclaimed, " Look at these specs! Not only are they years ahead of even the Angel, they're making it work! This….This…This frame would be our death if it is allowed to be constructed!"

Cecile gasped, " I-I can't believe they're actually making it work! Multi-weapon? A weapon that can change form into any known weapon? Is already uploaded with the VARIS rifle, Guren Radiant Wave Surger, Tristan Magnetic cannon, and Mordred Stark Hadron Cannon? How the hell are they going to power this?"

Rakshata frowned in her pipe, " That maybe the only thing saving us. And that they probably don't have a pilot. I don't know if the theoretical prodigal son of Kururugi Suzaku and Kallen Kozuki could pilot this thing."

Lloyd compared the very small sample data they had for the Gabriel to his own plans, " My plans don't even come close to this thing! What the hell is it? How the hell is such a frame even possible? What are these terms? Phase manipulation? Atomic Lattice armor? Energy pulse wave emitter?"

Cecile muttered, lowering her head into her hands, " This sounds like something out of one of those Sci-Fi novels that inspired me to become a scientist."

Lloyd giggled, " Well, we just need to redouble our efforts! Forward!"

Rakshata yawned, " Good luck with that, Tapioca Man."

Back on the bridge, the confrontations between the Black Knights and the Knights of Rounds had finally calmed down to the point where they could talk to each other again. Without yelling and angry threats of violence that is.

Suzaku watched the monitor with despair, as the Black Knights and Rogue Legions continued to destroy the academy that had held some of his best memories of the Black Rebellions. Same with Nunnally and, ironically, Gino. Kallen, on the other hand, wasn't so worried at all about it. Then again, she hadn't exactly been a part of the idiocy that took place at Ashford during the Black Rebellion. More like the not so innocent bystander.

The Knight of Five muttered, " This is getting outrageous. I would have expected the public to be less accepting of the Demon's return. What I cannot wrap my head around, is why they did not reject him?"

Nunnally answered for him, " It's rather simple. Despite his efforts to the contrary, Lelouch was never able to completely destroy the old world and create a new one. Yes, he was a ruthless subjugator, but he never committed any true atrocities. He never deserved the name ' Emperor of Atrocities,', as Chairwoman Kaguya Sumeragi called him during the U.F.N Negotiations. Despite my own allegiances in that battle, I can't think of who I would rather have won now."

Kallen was downcast, that being her exact sentiments of the battle as well. However, the past was the past, and they now needed to defeat Lelouch again. It certainly seemed like this Lelouch was going the extra mile. Like Gino before her, Kallen had been able to piece certain small hints about Zero Requiem that indicated that Lelouch had never truly intended to rule the world. But this time, he was.

Suzaku frowned, " We should leave the past where it is. In the past. Now, we need to begin our own preparations for war. Cornelia says she's managed to scrap together an additional five million troops."

( Blizzard Base)

Brenden Reed overlooked his newest projects with a large smile on his face. He had just completed one of his most difficult projects ever. A set of new Mass-Production KMFs were ready to start rolling off. Called the XV series, they resembled a set of battle suits from a board game Brendon had played when he was young.

But he now turned to his more difficult project. The name Gabriel glared hauntingly and mockingly up at him. The Energy problems were still unresolved, they had already put THREE Event Horizon Drives in the ship. They still couldn't provide enough power for the Knightmare that was almost three meters taller and three meters wider than normal Knightmares. The wings functioned, and the new Integration system was working full power. They just needed to fix the damn power!

It was a stubborn Knightmare, that's for certain. And they still needed pilot. That was another problem. But, he was again, very happy to see his third Custom Project see fulfillment. The Bishamonten, the War God, was completed. It was designed around the same design concepts as the Zangetsu, which Reed had worked on, having been part of Rakshata's development team at the time. Some might even say that the 35 year old was the only member of the Rogue Legions who had actually been a Black Knight, besides the Emperor himself.

The Bishamonten had the same hair piece, same overall look to it, but it was painted blood red instead. It had two katanas instead of one. The glide wings were the typical Rogue Legion Dragon wings. It also had a retractable Railgun that could be used from long range, but Brenden doubted Toudoh would ever use that particular weapon.

Then there was Toudoh's order to get some customized, semi-limited Knightmares for his Command Squad, called the Holy Swords. So Brendon had already dug up some old Anketsus, and began to remodel them. Since Toudoh traditionally only had Four Holy Swords, he only dug up four. The new ' Samurai' class Knightmares were almost ready.

Brendon was pretty busy these days, but it was nothing compared to Nina, who seemed to be running on Brendon's specialized Mountain Dew, AKA " The Spark of Life." Enough sugar to give a hoard of Russian Race Horses diabetes. Enough caffeine to raise the dead. Yeah, it got the blood pumping. He wondered what she was working on, given that the other two scientists had been instructed to cut her out of the normal R&D. He caught her mumbling something about a Project Necrosis, but that was it. Brendon really needed to talk to Stormcrow about over intimidating his step daughter. She was clearly losing it.

( The Last Stand of Commander Typhon)

" Fight! Fight till your last breathe soldiers! There is no shame in death! Take as many of them down with you as you can! They are but scum on your boots!" Typhon roared at his soldiers as they fought desperately to hold the central area. Bodies were littered the outside, fires blazed in unbridled fury, Typhon had never seen a down home fight like this. In the era of Knightmare combat, an intense, Infantry firefight was almost non-existent.

But this wasn't just Infantry on Infantry. It was a battle of fanatically loyal zealots against not just infantry, but regular armor and Knightmare frames as well. And they were holding goddammit, they were holding. The lust for death burned in their hearts. The desire to see the blood of their enemies far outstripped their own fear of death. He never took his unforgiving gaze from the advancing enemy. His banner still flew high above them. Yet they didn't attack him directly. Not even the Knightmares fired their assault rifles at him. Like they feared him somehow.

The effect of a man who not only knows his death is near, but embraces it with a lover's grasp is a terrifying sight. It was inspiring fear into the Remnant Black Knight forces who were attacking. To see a man standing so statue-esque, so openly in their line of fire, reminded them of heroes of old who didn't fear death. Some, like the enemy frontline leader, Chiba Nagisa, were in awe that Typhon was doing such a thing. Such was evident by the fact that she never once fired at him, though she had her heaviest weapons trimmed on his location. Others, like Villetta Ohgi, were disgusted, and even a little scared.

_I was given the choice of life or death. I chose death. I embrace death. I am death. We are all death._ He thought as he watched his men continue to lay down torrents of machine gun and Anti-Armor fire down upon the enemy lines. He laughed above the din of battle. He continued to rile up his men, " Come soldiers! We can do better than this! We can and will take as many of them with us as possible!"

_Put a man into desperation, and he shall fight like never before. Sun Tzu, you master tactician you. _He thought with a smile above the battle. His radio suddenly buzzed, " _Typhon! This is Jeremiah Gottwald! Me and Toudoh are entering the enemy main force. We have ETA of 10 minutes to your location!"_

Typhon just hung it up. He didn't bother listening to the rest. He didn't need hope to fight this battle. He needed staunch determination. The type they made legends about. Just then, the spell that bound his enemies broke. It must have been Jeremiah and Toudoh entering the fight, because Chiba and most of the remaining Knightmares broke off.

Typhon shouted, " Soldiers! The time has come to step up! We charge the enemy! For the Emperor!"

And so a whole new chant was born. Rather than shout " All Hail Lelouch" before charging, the men now shouted, " For the Emperor!"

Typhon raced through the halls of the Academy's Central Building, holding his banner high. He reached into his tattered vest, and drew a long, serrated blade. It began to hum like a chainsaw, for that's what it was, just in blade form. A Chain sword. He stormed down from the upper staircase just in time to test his new weapon out on a stray Black Knight Infantry man. He swung, and made contact. The Knight grunted, but began to raise his weapons in response. Then Typhon pressed the small button on the hilt. With a low hum, the chain sword began to saw right through the Knight's chest cavity. Flecks of flesh and blood scattered everywhere as the blade ate all the way through.

Typhon drew the blade back, pleased with the gore it had rent. He began to laugh as he cut his way through the Knight forces that had made their way into his little fortress. Then he got an idea. Taking cover for a moment, he shouted at a Lieutenant, " Hey! Come here and strap this banner to my back!"

" Yes milord."

A few moments later, the banner flew proudly above the Commander's head. He reached to his belt, and pulled out his heavily modified Desert Eagle Pistol that had explosive ammunition. He tossed it to himself, catching it in his vacant left hand. He aimed quickly at the storming Black Knight forces, trying to force their way into the building. He fired one shot, and it struck its target gloriously. A small explosion burst forth, incinerating and throwing back the encroaching forces. He shouted, " To battle!"

His men flocked to him, forming a wedge out of the twenty they still had, and rushed the entrance. They pushed through the gaps in the walls from battle damage quickly, and began a wild charge.

Bullets flew over his head and struck the ground around him. A missile flew past him and blasted large chunks of stone from the building behind them. He never flinched, and neither did his closest soldiers. He pointed his Eagle pistol at the enemy lines and began to fire at random. Explosions erupted in response, throwing the enemy soldiers back. Within seconds, he was within them. Fighting in hand to hand combat, slicing, stabbing, and gouging the enemy.

He barely even felt the first bullet hit his right shoulder. It didn't cause him to pause at all. He continued his charge, even as his nearest sub-ordinate fell to a head shot. He cut his way through, fighting the pain. He continued his surge forth, despite another shot to his shoulder, and a hit to his thigh. He just hoped he didn't bleed out before he could reach his target. She was already in his sight. The rest of his men were dead.

He began to take shots from all sides. It took all of his power to lift his pistol. Even more to pull the trigger. The pain blinded him. The bloodloss began to cloud his senses. But he saw the terrified expression on Villetta Ohgi's face, and knew his shot was going to connect. She had already missed her reflex zone. His last sight was the explosion, before the merciful darkness claimed him.

( Gottwald)

Jeremiah gritted his teeth as he watched the charge of Typhon's men. It was suicide! It was stupid! It was….glorious. It was exactly the kind of thing he had wanted to do when he found out that his Prince, now his Majesty, lived on the first time. It was even worse when the Emperor died. Despite being let in on the plan, Jeremiah still felt a cringe whenever he replayed the memory of Kururugi Suzaku jumping his shoulder and then rushing up to run his Emperor through.

He shouted at Toudoh in the Ecliptica, " Let's end this once and for all, Kyoshiro Toudoh!"

" _I hear you. I've already captured Chiba. It's going to be an interesting interrogation to say the least."_

Through judicious use of the Quantum Leaper, Toudoh appeared a few moments later in the Ecliptica. The Draconic Knightmare teamed up with the flaming red Giga Fortress, and they both charged into battle. The remaining Black Knight forces, without leadership, fell easily.

(Lelouch)

The Emperor made his way to his private quarters after acquiring the drives that Typhon had asked him to get before his suicide charge. The soldiers in the hangars and on the bases were taking hold of " Typhon's Last Stand" with a fury. Almost before he even fired his final shot, he had ascended from Rogue Legion hero to Legend. And Lelouch knew what they said about heroes and legends. Heroes get remembered. Legends never die.

The Legion soldiers had latched onto Typhon's " Imperium of Mankind" idea even harder than his own legend. Lelouch didn't like the name himself, but that's what Milly reported the name of his new nation to be, so it stuck. The Imperium of Mankind. Emperor Lelouch, Emperor of Mankind. That had a nice ring to it though. The Rogue Legions were already dropping the Rogue part of their names, and beginning to adopt names suitable.

Lelouch locked his doors and engaged all security systems. He turned on his computer, the very same one from eleven years ago when he had first become Zero. He had no idea how Milly had found it and kept it intact, but he was grateful that she had. Even now, it was still more advanced than most computers.

He popped the Flash drive labeled Project Necrosis, and began to watch the video within before he moved onto the files.

( **PROJECT NECROSIS)**

_** " Project Necrosis is a project to take the Radiation Technology used in the Guren, and apply it to a more deadly form of radiation and biochemical warfare. I, Commander Typhon Jameson, was but a new recruit of the Rogue Legions when I was first sent to Blizzard Group. I had joined the legions because I was fiercely discontent with the Britannian Military after the Damocles Incident.**_

_** I had barely survived the battle, requiring experimental medical treatments to regrow the nerves in my hands. Luckily, they worked. However, my very lackluster performance led to insane hazing by other veterans of the battle. It was even worse, because my battalion eventually came to be under the command of Gino Weinberg, who had no problem reminding me of my inferior skills. He had been the one who had eliminated me after all. **_

_** So, I deserted and joined the Phoenix Legion. But, that Legion immediately sent me over to the Blizzard Group. I became part of Project Necrosis. It seemed so hopeful at first. A medical project being undertaken to advance the recovery from extremely debilitating injuries. It was called Project Rebirth back then, and we were still fiddling around with Euphemia to see if we could get her mind back to normal.**_

_** However, that was before Stormcrow arrived. Back then, Marlowe Harrison was still in charge of the Blizzard Group. A Legion of Scientists led by a Scientist. They had such hopeful ideals. Revive those who were accidentally killed in the last war. There was talk of even reviving the Emperor, Lelouch. They wanted him to see the world that he had helped to create. A world where a man can be anything he wants. But, that was before the huge depressions hit. And that was definitely before Stormcrow came. **_

_** I remember it well. It was five years before the current day. A powerfully built Russian walked into the room. He looked like he had just escaped a gulag or something. Given what I know of him now, he probably had. He was followed by a woman who looked like she was absolutely terrified just to be in his presence. Of course, that's when I recognized Nina Einstein, the bitch responsible for that horrible weapon that killed millions. She no doubt had her bad moments, but no amount of beating yourself up can make you pay for the destruction of your own capital. My entire family was killed in that blast. I, for one, cannot stand to even look at her. I don't know how any of the others here do. Especially Marlowe, who lost his wife and three kids in the blast.**_

_** Either way, the man now known as Stormcrow, brings in his own scientist named Brendon Reed, and orders him to begin working on a Mental Imprinting technique. He wants the Demon King revived, and he wants him to destroy this world. To take it back over. And then he planned to kill him in a Schniezel style takeover. **_

_** I didn't find out until much later, but Stormcrow, was in fact, being paid by the Ex-Second Prince to take over this project. He's dead now, but there is no doubt that Stormcrow now just wants it all for his own. **_

_** Stormcrow had been using the information gathered by a Doctor Fredrick Steiner from years ago to develop the Mental Imprinting. However, I saw what he was doing, and discovered a way to counteract it. **_

_** The Project Necrosis is a project designed to create a Knightmare of Mass Destruction. A Knightmare almost completely based off of Nuclear warfare and Biochemical warfare. It will use a different form of radiation than the Guren. The Wave Surger uses Microwave radiation to super heat. The Necrosis will use Gamma Radiation to target directly the pilot within a frame. It will unleash a compound based upon the old Nova 6 poison used to destroy entire population bases. **_

_** The Necrosis must be stopped before it is completed. If it is completed, it will generate a radiation well around it that no one who is not specially equipped can enter. There will be no weapon with a long enough range to destroy it. I imagine that the longest a human can spend in the Radiation Well is twenty minutes. This is at the risk of severe bodily harm and sickness. Any longer is to flirt with death.**_

_** This Necrosis is the reason why Stormcrow, Einstein, and Reed all must die. All of them. Leave none of them alive. Kill Asplund if you have the chance, he's the jack ass who provided us with the uranium isotopes we needed."**_

__After watching the brief video, and hearing the recording, Lelouch took a seat on his bed and began to think. Looked like Schniezel was going to try the whole ' Save the World from Lelouch' thing again. He was damn lucky he was already dead. Because if he weren't, an eternity in Hell would pale in comparison to the torture Lelouch would inflict on him. He'd already done that once. Stormcrow joining the Blizzard Group seemed to coincide with his elder brother, Odysseus' reports of Schniezel and himself throwing off the Geass.

Lelouch didn't bother to look at the other videos. But he needed to ascertain Stormcrow's location NOW. He hailed Marlowe over the radio, " Marlowe, do you know where the ship, Elendil is?"

Marlowe answered back, " _It appears it has gone back to Blizzard Base, milord. By the way, Andrew is better now. He says he is eager to rejoin the fight when he can. Why do you ask?"_

" Because we have traitors in our midst."

( Stormcrow)

" Is it loaded?"

Nina nodded nervously, causing Alexander to laugh loudly. His personal force was loyal to him, and him alone. It was easily the size of the Phoenix Legion alone. He would be able to hold Lelouch off, and yet still pin the disasters he was going to create on him. It was time for him to put Operation Tokyo into action.

( Avalon 2)

" Lloyd! We just got a new report from Nina. It reveals where the enemy's main base is. Deep in Siberia."

Lloyd smiled at his computer, " Then get that information to Suzaku as soon as possible. We need to get a strike on that base. Whatever that Project Gabriel is, we need to capture it. Plus, we will also be able to destroy the enemy research capacity. And finally give us some time to catch up."

Cecile wasn't quite as hopeful, " Nina doesn't list the troop compositions or anything. How would we know what type of force to send?"

" Send me, Suzaku, Gino, and the Guardians,", Kallen injected as she walked in on the conversation, " With the Camelot as well. We should take a force numbering at least four hundred. I'm certain I could get Minami to send some Black Knight forces as well."

Lloyd smirked, " GOOD! We need some data on the Camelot to see how it will do in battle!"

" But it's just a prototype…."

Like always, Cecile's concerns were completely overridden by Master of Pudding's excitement. She just palmed her face, and went back to work. Rakshata pointed at Kallen, " We've finally got the Guren back to full power. Try not to make a habit of destroying my best child like that."

Kallen clenched her fist, " I won't. This time, I will be the winner."

A/N: Alright, so that ends another chapter. Next chapter will unveil the Gabriel.

Note: One Event Horizon Drive = 3 Yggdrasil Drives in power output. Gabriel Power Need= 9 Lancelots or 9 Gurens. Should give you an indication of WHY they are having so much trouble with it.

Plot line Details: This Chapter marks the end of the First Arc known as the Resurrection Arc. Next Chapter is the first chapter of the Second Arc, known as the Corruption Arc. The Third Arc is tentatively named the Akasha Arc. The Fourth Arc is tentatively named the Master Thyself Arc. Any Arcs past that are unplanned and unmapped thus far.

On that note: True to my promise, it's been a little while since an OC was introduced, but some new, rather important, ones will be introduced over the next few chapters. One will be Lelouch's Great Enemy, replacing Nunnally as her pregnancy advances. One will be his Great Ace, replacing Kallen and Suzaku in this respect.


	7. Chapter 7 The Gabriel

Chapter 7 The Gabriel

Lelouch walked into the Bridge of the Beleriand. His best men were gathered, including Toudoh and his new Sword members. Marlowe had a deep scowl on his face, like he suspected something was going bad. " Well, we've got us a traitor. Alexander Stormcrow has turned against us. It appears that he wants the world for himself"

Marlowe sneered, " So, we're finally going to give that bastard what he deserves then? He's been ruining our lives ever since he got here."

Lelouch nodded, " I agree. He is a problem that must be dealt with before it can become too serious. It may already be too serious. Have a look at this."

He showed them the files and videos of the Necrosis, " This Knightmare may change the entire war."

Marlowe was definitely not pleased, " This thing could create wholesale slaughter. It must be destroyed. But, based on these specs, we don't have anything strong enough to actually destroy it from the range we need to. Except the Gabriel."

" And that's not finished."

" Actually, I just got word from Reed that it is,", Howell broke into the discussion, " But we don't have a pilot yet, and we still have some power issues.."

Lelouch frowned, " Then I guess all we can do is see if we can figure out what Typhon meant by specially outfitted. He seems to imply that regular HAZMAT wouldn't cut it."

Howell nodded, " He's right. The specialized compounds used in the design of the Necrosis would go through normal Lead plating and the such. While not exactly accurate, I think that our best bet would be to use our MARC cannons to attack it. But that also brings into question the Elendil. That ship was specially designed to be a Fortress Ship not unlike the Damocles, if a little more practically designed. And five Legions disappeared with Stormcrow. We've lost a lot of men."

Lelouch decided now was the time to address his epithet, " Speaking of Legions, we need to do something about the whole Imperium thing. It doesn't make sense. Yeah, we are an Empire trying to destroy an Empire, but I've read about this Imperium from a board game that some of my brothers played as an alternative to Chess. It isn't exactly what I want coming to mind when people talk about us. Kaguya's already calling for our heads. Though I'm not surprised, I am surprised she hadn't done anything prior to now."

Tamaki spoke up, " Xingke used his 'Executive Privilege" to circumvent the normal process of declaring war on a nation. At this point, you guys were still these Rogues from a forgotten era as well. Maybe Xingke didn't think he would need to wait."

Toudoh didn't agree, " Xingke was just angry Tianzi was killed. Speaking of Tianzi, what exactly did you do with her? That wasn't her head on the pike. A good copy, but not hers."

Lelouch smiled, " Did you really think I would pass up a good pawn like her? Nope, she's still in China. Still ruling it as a matter of fact, though as a figure head to me. That may, in fact, be why Kaguya hasn't done anything prior to this point. Diplomacy is not my strongest suit, and I fear that Stormcrow may be able to destroy whatever propaganda we've been using to convert the populace with this Necrosis."

Marlowe added, " That Knightmare is nothing but a Shock and Awe weapon. It's designed solely for the purpose of destroying populations and desecrating land. And he still flies our banners. If he uses that weapon, all the will we've acquired will evaporate, and we will surely lose any recruiting we've gotten. We are just trying to save face at this point."

Lelouch smirked, " However, we still have trackers on Stormcrow. He's still in Siberia. But I'm worried. I think he may have instructed Nina to release the location of our base. I've known for awhile that she's been the leak, but knowing her rather precarious relationship with step-father, I haven't acted. Now, we need to nip this one at the top. The weapons used are as follows: A unique form of Gamma Radiation, and a poison called Nova 7. Anyone got any leads?"

Marlowe did, " Having been a Britannian Scientist in the years leading up to the first rebellion, I was given clearance to some very sensitive documents. The predecessor to the poison being used now is called Nova 6. A volatile chemical compound that combines a powerful neurotoxin and a powerful air borne acid. If inhaled, death was quick, but extremely painful and usually accompanied by extreme vomiting and burning. Some of the more potent versions could flay the skin off a person. The new version must be deadly."

" That means we have to be careful with how we destroy it. Any sort of neutralizer?"

" Pure energy. So something like the VARIS rifle would be able to destroy it."

A radio man came running in, " Emperor! We're getting a SOS call from Blizzard Base! Britannia is attacking!"

" Bring it up on the tactical display."

The Command room gasped when the Britannian force came up on radar. The Britannians easily outnumbered the small defense force ten to one. What was worse, was that the Tristan, Lancelot, Guren, and a new frame called the Kiel were on the screen. _Knights of Zero, One, Black, and Knight of Four. Soren Tytoris should be the one in the Kiel. Reports show he's not the greatest Pilot ever, but a clear step up from the other new Knight of Rounds members. Works well with the others._

A static laced transmission came in, " This is an SOS broadcast to any Legion Troops in the Area. My name is Brendon Reed. We are broadcasting from the Blizzard Base located in Northern Siberia. We are under attack, and this system is transmitting our research and documents to a secure network of contacts. We are preparing to self-destruct. We are preparing to self-destruct."

Suddenly, a train of thought started playing in Lelouch's mind. _Abandon them. Reed must die. He's the one who charged the compound. He must die. He must die. He must die. Kill him. Let him die._

He shook his head for a moment, and it cleared up. He began issuing orders again, " Unfortunately, we can't do anything for them. "

" We are running Experiment Gabriel on Patient 00124. Initiate."

Marlowe clarified, " Patient 124 is a man named Felix Henderson. An ex-Knightmare pilot whose legs were damaged in a crash. He can't walk due to the nerve damage in his legs, but the fluid used in Neural Emersion also has healing properties and can stimulate nerve growth. But they would be out of their minds to try him in the Gabriel! Assuming they can get it to move that is."

" Should be interesting."

* * *

><p>( Blizzard Base…Felix Henderson)<p>

" Sorry Felix, but we are going to try something on you other than the normal experimental drugs."

The brownish blonde man sitting on the table muttered his approval, " Go ahead, I'm not going anywhere. Not in a hurry."

The scientist nodded, and helped the man into a wheelchair, and off they went. Henderson wasn't the brightest man. Never had been. But knew something was up. Explosions going off in the distance. Gunfire. The scientists were desperate.

Henderson had been in desperate situations, having been part of the strike forces that had participated in Narita and First Tokyo. Yet, it wasn't until a car crash had robbed him of being able to walk that he had ever truly despaired. The Scientist rolled him into a room with a cockpit in it. Inside was a strange, blue fluid. The scientist handed him a helmet, " Put this on, it has all the life support and such in it."

He obliged, and he felt his body being submerged in the cool liquid. He immediately felt a small shock got through his body. A voice entered the voice feed of his helm, " Hello, Felix Henderson. I'm Brendon Reed. Running program now."

The words PROJECT GABRIEL appeared on his view screen in the helm. " Henderson, you are being implanted within the Knightmare Gabriel, which relies on an experimental form of control called Full Neural Integration. The fluid in the cockpit is the same that was going to be used to repair the nerves in your legs. You simply have to will the Frame to move, and it will. Bringing up view screen now."

The view came up. The orientation was as though the Knightmare's head was his own, and he was literally looking out of its eyes. He tested the rotation and panning ability by turning the Frame's head. Reed sounded amused, " Excellent! You're getting a handle on this. Now, draw the sword."

A golden, nearly seven foot long, blade hung loosely by the Frame's waist. He could feel it, and moved his hand to draw it. And so the frame drew the blade. It had draconic designs, like most Blizzard Group tech, all over it. But the texture was strange. Reed explained, " Behold the secondary weapon of the Gabriel. The Sol Blade. A Power Sword with solar and geothermal panels embedded into circuitry of the blade. It will charge using the ambient heat and energy of the environment. Now, try to extended the wings."

Henderson envisioned himself with wings, and forced them to spread. The sounds of the machine told him that he had spread the wings of the machine as well. " Good, Wings of the Valkyrie working well. What is the power level?"

" Still at one hundred percent. Why do you ask?"

Reed laughed, " Excellent! We finally fixed the power issues! Used to only run for ten minutes before shutdown! Now, activate the float system."

The frame began to rise off the ground. He tested the legs and arms. It was incredibly responsive, like it was his body. In fact, more responsive! He smiled inside as the explosions began to near. Smoke filled the air. Reed shouted, " Get ready! We are relaying the tactical information to you now!"

A small radar reticule appeared in the bottom of his helm. It showed them being incredibly outnumbered, and that the enemy had a capital ship of some sort. He turned and began to make his way towards the exit. Only to start banging his head against the ceiling. He muttered, " This thing must be bigger than most Knightmares, because even the old Gawain could have gone through that gap."

But his problems were solved when nearly everything around him exploded.

* * *

><p>( Suzaku)<p>

Gino mimed blowing smoke from the new VARIS rifle, Sniper variant, his Tristan was now equipped with. Suzaku chuckled, " Nice shot at those generators, Gino."

" That ought to take care of them. No more amazing, makes Lloyd look like an idiot, Knightmares for Lulu boy!"

Suzaku radioed to the Camelot, " Mission Accomplished, Lloyd. Let's get out of here before Lelouch's response team gets here."

Cecile was the one who radioed back, " Hold on, Suzaku. We're getting an energy signature in the rubble. It's big."

Kallen radioed, " Maybe they're blowing themselves up?"

" Not likely."

Suzaku opened his Factsphere. The smoke was beginning to clear, and the sphere was relaying something bigger than a Knightmare. He was beginning to get a visual. He gasped in surprise at the size of the Knightmare that emerged. It was at least three meters taller and wider than normal ones. It was pure golden in color. It had angelic wings spreading out from its back. The left arm was strangely formed. The right hand carried a colossal sword that was easily the length of the Excalibur blade the Galahad had used.

Cecile stammered on the radio, " I…Im….Impossible!"

Lloyd cut in, " SUZAKU! Get the hell away from that Frame! NOW!"

Suzaku immediately ordered the lines to pull back, before asking, " Why?"

Meanwhile, the four Scientists of Britannia were in shock. Rakshata muttered, " How did they get it to work?"

Lloyd wore a deep frown, " I don't know, but this makes things very, very difficult. Knowing Suzaku, he'll engage anyway. I hope whoever's the pilot doesn't total Lancelot and the others too much. Spent too much time working on them to have to do it all over again."

Suzaku was busy watching the wings of the Gabriel begin to shimmer and crackle with energy. The Frame began to move the angelic wings towards each other. The tips touched. Suddenly, his LIVE Geass took effect. He slammed the Lancelot violently to the side, crashing into the Guren in the process, knocking her aside. Not a moment later, a massive, golden beam of energy burst forth from the wings, tearing through everything in its path. Knight Soren shouted on the radio, " What the hell was that?"

The very air crackled in the wake of the blast. Suzaku was more than surprised. Kallen was angry, " What was that! Suzaku!"

Gino's image popped up, eyes widened, " That….That's the same technology used in the Stark Hadron Cannon, but far more powerful. It seems to be made of….pure energy."

Lloyd came up next, " Suzaku, our shields have taken heavy damage from that attack. I don't think we could take another one head on. The Camelot will retreat. Cover for us."

The Gabriel flung out it's left arm, which promptly began to reform before their eyes. When the small flash of light faded, a new weapon was in its place. A long barreled VARIS rifle. The Knightmare began to flit around the battlefield, faster than it should be able to move. Golden beams from the rifle held Suzaku and the others at range.

Gino was flustered, " Something tells me that Knightmare isn't going to be easy to bring down from range! My Sphere is detecting four Force Shield Generators AND a Blaze Luminous around the core areas. We need to take it down in melee!"

" That's my specialty!"

Kallen raced forward in the Guren, spinning around the VARIS bolts and drawing close to the Gabriel. Suzaku saw the arm reform, this time, it was the Guren's Wave Surger! Kallen must not have noticed, because she went right for that arm. The Gabriel brought its massive sword across in a parrying blow, and fired four Harkens at point blank range. They all hit their mark, ripping Kallen's Surger off, and leaving her wide open for its own.

Kallen yelped in surprise when the Gabriel grabbed hold of her Knightmare's Cockpit, and unleashed its own radiation blast. Due to a malfunction, she was able to eject. But the Guren Hououken exploded in the background from the blast. Suzaku cursed in his cockpit. This wasn't going well. He ordered, " All units! Pull back! Do not engage Project Gabriel! Do not engage! Retreat!"

It only took two more blasts from the Gabriel's Wings to give the men incentive to withdraw. Suzaku stopped only to retrieve Kallen, and get out of there. It was only a few moments when they caught up with and were able to dock on the Camelot.

Lloyd was the first to greet him. Rakshata wasn't far behind, but she marched Kallen off to a different room, probably to give her hell for getting the Guren destroyed. First thing Suzaku asked was, " Ok, I know it was called Project Gabriel, because it's all you and the others have been talking about since we were given this mission by the Empress, but what the hell is that thing?"

Lloyd pulled up the monitor, " It is called Project Gabriel, or just the Gabriel. All the facts we have on it indicate this. It was a project by Marlowe Harrison, Brendon Howell, and Brendon Reed to create the Perfect Knightmare. There's technology in it I've never seen nor dreamed of. You know that's impressive."

Being familiar with the wild imagination of the Pudding Earl, Suzaku nodded for him to continue. " Well, we knew they were close to finishing it. But all reports indicated that they couldn't figure out how to power it. As you know, one Event Horizon Drive can triple the output of an Yggdrasil Drive. We suspect that thing has three Event Horizons in it."

" THREE? That means that it has…."

Lloyd nodded, " The equivalent of nine Lancelots in it. That's why it is so large. None of us have any idea how they finally fixed its power problem. Even Nina's spy reports are vague about it. Mentions something about Full Neural Integration. That would mean that the pilot is as much the Knightmare as he is the pilot. He is almost literally the Knightmare."

_That's why he was able to respond to our attacks so quickly. There's no resistance, no thinking involved. Just instinct. _Suzaku thought with interest. This would no doubt be his absolutely most interesting enemy yet. Leave it to Lelouch to find something like that. In a war that just kept getting more and more interesting, it always seemed like Lelouch was one step ahead of them. Now, they only needed to figure out that the hell that enemy force so far ahead of them was doing?

* * *

><p>( Lelouch)<p>

The Emperor sat on his throne in the Beleriand with his head scientist, and second in command, next to him. Marlowe was an odd choice for second in command, but unlike his previous seconds, he had a decent grasp of strategy. Thus, he never questioned Lelouch's moves unless it were necessary.

He ran a hand through his long, white hair, " Emperor Lelouch, I've always wondered. What was your opinion of FLEIA?"

" That it was a horrible weapon that should never have been invented. Although, I must take responsibility for its creation. Had I not accidentally Geassed Euphemia into massacring the Japanese, and thus having to kill her, Nina may never have been so motivated to stop Zero. Though, her xenophobia may have caused her to create it anyway. It's a hypothetical What If?"

Marlowe nodded, " Typhon's little video brought up bad memories of the Pendragon bombing for me. I was divorced, but I still lost my wife and three kids in that explosion. I honestly would love nothing less than to slit that little bitch's throat with my rustiest scalpel , but I also understand that not all people can be held to the same standard."

Lelouch chuckled faintly, " I should know that. Either way, we have a fix on Stormcrow's location. We must get to him and destroy him."

" Agreed. But what of the Gabriel?"

Lelouch pointed out a rendezvous point, " Knightmare Frame Gabriel, Pilot Felix Henderson, will meet with us here. It's on the interception path, so we won't be going out of our way."

" Good point. We will need it's long range to destroy the Necrosis. We have to assume Stormcrow will be using it when we next run across him."

Lelouch smirked, " Onward to victory! Treachery cannot be forgiven!"

* * *

><p>( New Pendragon A few hours later...)<p>

" Forward! We shall defeat my treacherous half-brother and end this war with our new offensive! All Hail Britannia!"

The soldiers of the Imperial Guard chanted, " All Hail Britannia! All Hail Empress Nunnally!"

The once blind, but now just sunglass wearing, Spear of the Empire, Gilbert Guilford knelt before his Princess, Cornelia, and accepted her blessing. He stood up and ordered the troops to march off. However, it was at that moment, that another bespectacled man threw open the doors of the Hall, and entered.

If Guilford looked every part the loyal, obedient Knight, then this man looked everything the opposite. His hair was long, but a wild silver. His eyes glimmered green in the distance behind his triangular glasses. A long, lightning bolt like scar ran across his left cheek. At his waist, hung a long katana. No, this wasn't Suzaku trying out a new look. This was a far different man.

He declared to the parted soldiers, the former Second Princess, and everyone else, " Exiled Knight David Soranzio reporting for duty."

Most everyone in the room didn't know what that title meant. But those who did immediately drew in their breath and held it. Cornelia outright sneered at him. The title is actually a Misnomer. The Exiled Knight is not, in fact, an exiled Knight. In fact, he is almost the exact opposite of a truly exiled knight.

Seeing Guilford's questioning glare, Cornelia explained with a grimace, " An Exiled Knight is a Knight of Rounds who exists completely independent of the entire Britannian Command Structure. Knight of Rounds included. The only person to whom an Exiled Knight bows his knee to, is the Emperor or Empress his or herself. In fact, an Exiled Knight is often granted privileges that not even the Knight of One is allowed. As a result, he has the ability to strip ANYONE of their command, even a Prince or a Princess. Though it is considered a great dishonor for this to occur."

With this, Cornelia turned her gaze to Soranzio, " Are you here to remove me from the command given to me by the Empress herself?"

The white haired, battle veteran who had seen as many battles as Cornelia was old, nodded, " I mean no dishonor, milady, but you are not the one to command these men. Britannia needs someone who is willing to use the enemy's own tactics against them. Not someone who's going to charge in like a mad dog and get put down like one."

Guilford hissed his displeasure at the Exiled Knight's tone, but that only caused the Knight to turn on him, " Keep your mouth closed, Gilbert Guilford. We know where you sleep."

That got both Cornelia and Guilford to shut up in a hurry. Soranzio stood up in front of them, and declared, " I, Exiled Knight David Soranzio, Claim command of this Army by the power of Law 45, Section 5c, Paragraph 8a of the Uniform code and hear by reclaim my rightful title of Exemplar of Britannia!"

Not even missing a beat, the soldiers chanted back, " Hail to the Exemplar!"

In another room, Suzaku watched with a passive look on his face. Gino commented, " So, the rank of Exemplar is real then. I always thought it was fake, something the Emperor used to keep his children and the Knights in line."

" So did I,", Suzaku muttered while looking at the only person not named Nunnally who outranked him, " Exemplar. Also doubles as Seneschal of the Throne and Lord Regent. The Exemplar takes the throne if there is no Heir or the Heir is not old enough, or the Heir is deemed incapable of ruling at the time. A man who exists outside of the rank and file. Seems like Zero made legal."

Gino chuckled slightly, " I never thought of that analogy. But he really does. I mean, he just barges right in on Cornelia's little ceremony, strips her of her dignity and command, throws Guilford into the doghouse, and there's nothing anyone besides Empress Nunnally can do about it."

Suzaku simply shook his head, " Being honest, up until I was made Knight of Zero, and Lelouch said something about it, I never knew about this Exemplar rank. Said he wanted me to be Exemplar, but once he found out that the Exemplar would take the throne if there was NO direct Heir, then he decided not to. Guess he felt I wasn't up to ruling Britannia. Lelouch did say he never recognized Soranzio, who had also been his father's Exemplar, as Exemplar, so it didn't count. Since Charles already had several direct heirs, Lelouch being one, there wasn't anything the Exemplar could do."

Kallen walked in on the conversation, " You talk a lot, you know that Suzaku?"

Suzaku ignored Kallen, something generally done at one's own peril, to continue, " I believe Lelouch said that Soranzio was the one who taught Schniezel strategy. Who, in turn, taught Lelouch. Soranzio's as old as me and Kallen put together and then some, but he's still got an edge. I watched him spar with Nonnette the other day. He was amazing to say the least."

Gino raised an eyebrow, " Enneagram's still alive?"

" Yeah. See, she was the only Knight of Rounds besides me who sided with Lelouch during his brief reign. But Lelouch, not wanting to mess up his suicidal Zero Requiem, didn't bring her along. Instead, he left her behind to command the defenses when the Black Knights launched their counter attacks from the U.F.N's other nations. By the way Kallen, you should really thank whatever Gods you believe in that the Damocles battle started when it did."

Kallen was slightly angered by that, asking, " Why?"

Suzaku explained, " Because, Soranzio somehow caught wind of what Zero Requiem really was. So he intended to stop it, by forcing Lelouch to defeat the Black Knights in legitimate warfare."

Gino put it together, " Ah, because Zero Requiem would never have worked if he didn't have Damocles to back it up. And Soranzio would have destroyed Damocles, rather than capture it, because he has the authority to defy certain orders. I'm guessing he was bringing reinforcements?"

Suzaku shrugged, " You could say that. You might also say he was bringing the entire Pacific and Indian Fleets, all twenty divisions of it. You know, all three hundred thousand men."

Kallen exclaimed, " THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND!"

Gino flinched himself, " That's more than both the Black Knights and Lelouch's fleets put together by at least two fold. I definitely see what you were saying about Lelouch not wanting Soranzio to interfere. The Damocles was a key role in Zero Requiem. It made Lelouch's crimes look so much worse than they really were. I mean, he never enacted genocide like Clovis or anything, but he did kill his fair share of people. So did Charles Zi Britannia, and yet, most of Britannia still loved him. If Damocles had been destroyed then and there, then, there may not have been a Zero Requiem, and Lelouch may still be the 99th Emperor."

Suzaku informed them, " Soranzio's force was ETA of ten minutes when Lelouch announced that he had captured the Damocles. So, if the battle starts, say, an hour later? Right after Lelouch detonates Mt. Fuji and wipes out half your men, here comes this gigantic force from behind. Say what you want, there's no way even the Damocles' Luminous could hold against the combined force of three hundred thousand Knightmares, Cruisers, Destroyers and other assorted ships, both naval and air. Soranzio's a tactical genius in his own right, he would have completely ignored everything else, and gone right for the FLIEA Mass Driver Cannon."

" Without FLEIA, the Damocles would have been weaponless, Soranzio would have boarded it and captured Nunnally and Schniezel, and Lelouch would have just gone crazy on us. In short, we would have been fucked,", Gino muttered with disgust, as though he hated even thinking that he had come that close to being completely eradicated off the face of the earth.

Suzaku laughed, and said with a smile, " I can think of ten different ways to say that very same thing. Yes, you would have been screwed royally. The reports say Soranzio is ruthless, so I bet he would have rigged Damocles to self-destruct and suicide charged it right into all the Black Knight forces."

Kallen spoke, " I never thought that Zero Requiem would have had so many variables in it. We all have reasons to hate Lelouch, but I say, we can all admire the fact that he always gets it done. His mantra, ' Create Worlds, Destroy Worlds,', which he did by consuming his own life."

Suzaku moved to his next point, " Which is why this new war is bothering me so much. Yeah, we may have been in a Depression, and there is the general unrest that accompanies such things, but we were on our way to recovering. The world was already a better place than the one Lelouch left. It just isn't like him to do this. Unless they somehow employed MKO on him when he was being revived…"

Bewildered, Kallen asked, " MKO?"

Gino answered, " Mental imprinting. You could call it the Scientific version of Charles Britannia's Geass. Developed by the Soviet's back during the Cold War. Some scientist named Fredrick Steiner developed it. You've got the clearance now, you should go read up on Alex Mason's Profile. The only man to ever receive the Britannian Medal of Honor while still alive."

Suzaku continued, " There are parts of his file that not even the Royal Family could access up until twenty years ago. Something about a poison called Nova 6 and a massive Soviet Black Ops mission to destroy all Britannian population centers. Either way, the important thing to remember is that Mason was somehow brainwashed while he was imprisoned in Vorkuta to betray his nation. But a man named Viktor Reznov somehow countered it. But, it wasn't until after he had almost gotten the nation destroyed was he able to break his brainwashing."

" That's terrifying,", Kallen muttered in awe.

" Not even the half of it Kallen. To think, stuff we only thought was possible with a Geass may actually be real. All of our arguments against Lelouch had something to do with his Geass removing a person's will and life. Yet, we can actually do the same thing with Science. Makes a man think doesn't it?"

Suzaku was about answer Gino's conjecture, but the Exemplar entered the room. He held a hand out to Suzaku," So you are Kururugi Suzaku, Knight of Zero. I am David Soranzio, Exemplar of Britannia as so recognized by James Na Britannia, Charles Zi Britannia, and Nunnally Vi Britannia. It is an honor to meet the man who was held in a higher trust than the highest ranking non-royalty member in all of Britannia."

" And an honor to meet you as well, Exemplar Soranzio. But answer me this, why have you returned? At 82, there isn't exactly much you can do out there. I saw you spar with Nonnette, but that can't be good for your heart."

Soranzio chuckled, " Gottwald's not the only man who's had biotic implants you know. Mine are more subtle and on the inside. I haven't been idle in a Knightmare like some."

Kallen flinched at his dig, but didn't rise to his bait. Suzaku raised a questioning eyebrow, " You pilot a Knightmare?"

" Knightmare Frame _Sun Tzu_. A special command frame developed by Marlowe Harrison before he went rogue. I've kept it up to date and all. My son's the one with the _Miyamoto Musashi, _though."

Gino asked, " You have a son?"

" What? It's every man's desire to have an heir you know. James is quite talented you know. I've seen him make Glasgows do things that make the Lancelot look obsolete."

Suzaku muttered, more to himself than anything, " Everything makes the Lancelot look obsolete these days."

" Hey, at least you aren't getting your Knightmare destroyed in every confrontation."

That REALLY got Kallen's attention. Gino called off the mad dog and pulled Kallen from the room, leaving Suzaku with the Exemplar. They fixed each other with gazes. David spoke first, " You know, you and I aren't that different."

" Brothers without an army. Without a real reason to fight."

" Exactly. We fight for the Empress, but why else? I know the Empress has your child…"

Suzaku frowned, " Is that going to be a problem between you and me? You've served some of the most bigoted and racist Emperors that Britannia has ever had. You can't tell me some of it didn't rub off on you."

" I'll admit, I have some racial preservations. But not Nina Einstein Level if you're wondering. My real belief, is that Humanity is a race unto itself. There is no such thing as Japanese, Britannian, or European. There is only Human. Race is only a term that we humans have created to discriminate ourselves from each other. It's one of the few things that Charles was ever right about. Humanity, by its very nature, is discriminatory. A man may be created equal, but otherwise, he is _never_ equal."

Suzaku countered, " But, a man can change. Damn, this is like talking to Lelouch all over again. What was your opinion on him anyway?"

" He should have been the greatest Emperor that Britannia ever had. A Holy Roman Emperor if there ever was one. He certainly had all the tools. It's why I tried so hard to stop Zero Requiem. I really think the world could have used a ruler like him. Make no mistake, my loyalty is to Britannia itself, no matter who the Emperor or Empress of the day is. But I standby that I say that he would have been one of, if not the greatest, Emperor we've ever had."

Suzaku nodded, " Then allow me to share my theory with you. You know Alex Mason right?"

" This is about MKO isn't it? You think they somehow brainwashed him when they were reviving him don't you?"

Suzaku nodded again, " This isn't like Lelouch. This war….goes against everything Zero Requiem was about. Goes against everything he ever did. And yet….he's more popular than ever."

" That's because people are idiots. They flock to leaders. Sorry, Spin-boy, but Nunnally doesn't exactly have that 'Presence' that great leaders have. You know what it's like. Seen Lelouch and Charles do it a thousand times. Walks into a room, and EVERYONE instantly knows that the boss is present."

Suzaku gave a small sigh, because he knew it was the truth. Lelouch did it all the time with the Student Council. Yeah, Milly was president and all, and could be extremely overbearing, but he had no illusions as to who was the real leader. In his mind, at any rate. If Lelouch hadn't put up with the bull shit that woman put them through, he wouldn't have either. Even after he found out that Lelouch was Zero and had killed Euphie, he was still the best leader that Suzaku had ever had.

" The populace is full of morons, easily manipulated into what certain sides want them to believe. The greatest example of such a thing is these Rogue Legions. I know Lelouch was a popular emperor, even after his little 'I'm gonna kill myself to save the world' episode. But this amount of support is ridiculous. The populace is almost on fire with support for him, and yet…."

Suzaku leaned onto a small beam, " Agreed. Even when he was reforming Britannia, he didn't have this much support. I don't think he had this much support as Zero either."

" Considering they betrayed him, I imagine he didn't. Ah well, it is to my understanding that my pupil, Schniezel, had a huge hand in that. I taught him well didn't I?"

Suzaku smiled, though he was frowning internally, " And he, in turn, taught Lelouch. Yet, millions of people lost their lives to their machinations."

" Suzaku, Knight of Zero, do you sometimes wonder what if?"

Suzaku raised an eyebrow, " Yeah, why?"

" There are so many what-ifs. What if you had joined Lelouch in the rebellion? What if V.V hadn't kidnapped Nunnally? What if the Black Knights had ignored Schniezel? What if you had never used FLEIA? What if the Damocles had been destroyed in noble battle? There are so many, that we can lose ourselves in them if we are not careful."

The Exemplar turned to leave the room, " Remember, Suzaku. Me and you, we aren't that different. We are all brothers, together with Lelouch. There is no army on earth, besides the ones we are already part of, that would take us in. Not even if we wanted too. We are brothers, soldiers without an army."

* * *

><p>( Stormcrow)<p>

" Nina, how close is the Camelot?"

" Far enough away that they can't reach us. Without the Knight of Rounds with them, they can't take us down anyway."

Stormcrow nodded. Time to activated his plan. He opened his phone, " Ophelia."

"_Yes father?"_

" When I launch the Necrosis, I want you to start the broadcast. Lelouch's men are hot on my tail, and so is Britannia. Prepare the Nebula station for my use."

"_Very well Father. Sticking to the original plan?"_

" Yes. Though, I have some ends that need tying up here."

"_Oh, so we are finally going to dispose of my good-for-nothing-but-Doomsday-Weapons sister eh? Good."_

Stormcrow smiled as he hung up the phone.

* * *

><p>( Kaguya)<p>

Kaguya Sumeragi, Chairwoman of the U.F.N, was a political hostage of her own choosing right now. Rather than attempt to flee or parley favor from Britannia, she had remained on Penglai even after it had been evacuated. As such, she was now, once again, a prisoner of Lelouch Vi Britannia. Though this imprisonment felt much different from her last.

_Something doesn't seem right about this war. Is Lelouch really trying to take the world this time, or is he just playing? Even with what little I know about Lelouch from before he was Zero and later Emperor, this just doesn't seem like him. _The emerald eyed Chairwoman thought as she sat in her chair. She called it imprisonment, but there were no guards, no armed men anywhere.

It was like Lelouch had forgotten about Penglai entirely. He had sent an Emissary to treat with her, but that was all. Either he really didn't care what she did, or he was planning on her not doing anything. Given Lelouch's predilection for planning, she banked on the last. Hell, she'd even seen Tianzi in the last few days, despite the fact that she was supposed to be dead.

He wasn't looking as ruthless as he was on paper. That she could respect. That, and she admitted that Japan had needed a nice kick to the groin to remind it that it wasn't the Emperor of the U.F.N. She had been taking grief from the U.F.N nations not named Japan or China about Japan's newfound dominance. Seeing as to she was still Japan's representative, she was the one that everyone came to about complaints for her country as well.

She also respected that Lelouch hadn't razed the country to the ground, and had fought the major battles over the sea. If anything, Lelouch bent on World Domination was treating his conquests with more respect than the one who hadn't intended to rule the world. However, she couldn't help but look upon his image with scorn. He was tearing down the peace that he had DIED for, and she couldn't figure exactly why he was doing that.

* * *

><p>( Soren)<p>

" Camelot, this is Knight Four, Soren Tytoris, I have a visual on the enemy strike force."

Lloyd radioed back, " Good, I will begin deploying the others. Get your forces ready."

Soren nodded inside of the cockpit of his Knightmare frame Kiel. His tactical map indicated that this was the enemy Fortress Ship Elendil. The Kiel was a slightly different type of frame that was built as a fast attack unit. Soren may not have been the greatest pilot, but he always fulfilled his role nicely, and he had reflexes that made Kallen Kozuki look slow. But that didn't mean he didn't have his own flaws. His Honor Guard and the other Knights of Rounds worked excellently together. But, they couldn't work at all with the Knights of Zero, One, and Black.

The Honor Guard had a Knight for each purpose. However, Soren was the only at this battle. So he was their fast attack and hit hard unit. But he couldn't take very much damage either.

His attention was drawn to the hatches on the Elendil opening. They were deploying something.

* * *

><p>ANs:

Tianzi isn't dead?: After some people said that they thought she would be better used as Lelouch's puppet rather than being dead, I decided to make so that Lelouch faked her death.

The Great OCs: With one secret exception, the major OC roles are now filled. Henderson ( combined with Temkhe and Andrew) is Lelouch's Ace. David Soranzio ( a recycled OC/Main Character from the defunct Commissar's War series) is Lelouch's great enemy.

Ranking of Exemplar: The Exemplar of Britannia is a rank I've created to be somewhere between First Prince and Emperor of Britannia in terms of status and power. He is the Seneschal and defender of the Realm in the event that the Emperor is incapacitated and there is no willing or able successor. As a result, he outranks anyone in the kingdom except the Emperor/Empress. However, an Exemplar must be "recognized" by the standing Emperor/Empress, and Lelouch never recognized an Exemplar. If he had, it probably would have been Suzaku.

Definition of Direct Heir: This means his own son or daughter. No other relations. If Lelouch had designated Suzaku to be Exemplar, it means that Kururugi Suzaku would be the 100th Emperor of Britannia, not Nunnally Vi Britannia. Imagine the chaos if a Number, not to mention the most infamous of all Numbers, became Emperor of Britannia. Even though it would only have been a temporary thing.

Warhammer Reference: The Gabriel is named after Commander Gabriel Angelos of the Blood Ravens.

COD Black Ops: This entire arc is based off of Call of Duty Black Ops, so be prepared as more details emerge.

Soranzio brings reinforcements to the Damocles battle: This is a What-If Scenario that ties in with the " Lelouch not only knew about, but prepared for the Black Mutiny" scenario on my profile. Something I noticed during the last two episodes, especially the penultimate one, was that the battle was still very even at that point. What if, Lelouch had arranged reinforcements to flank Schniezel and cut off their center in a pincer movement?


End file.
